


Under the Hood

by cherrylng



Category: Assassin's Creed, Black Veil Brides, Muse (Band)
Genre: Action, Blood, Childhood Memories, Concerts, Crossover, Escape, Espionage, Fighting Ring, Fluff, Gore, Guns, Language, M/M, Natural Disasters, Original Characters - Freeform, Other, Pool Sex, Romance, Smut, Violence, weird dream
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 18:06:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 61,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3946516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrylng/pseuds/cherrylng
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If someone were to tell him a few years ago that he was to meet an interesting man who calls himself Corvo, that he was to become an Assassin by his own decision, to learn how to free run and be a jack of all trades in weapons and fighting, to learn of Assassins and Templars and Those Who Came Before, he would’ve laughed, tell said someone ‘cheers’ at their unbelievable story, and gone back to his merry way.</p><p>Such is the way of life when he thinks about the past and how far he’d come to this moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Men, women and children from all walks of life, from different parts of the world congregate and walk along the streets. It is hard to tell which are the locals and which are the tourists.  
  
Teenagers and young adults chattering and laughing, in their own little clique groups.  
  
The tourists in London during summer are horrendous. They are a year-round phenomenon that is best to be accepted, but having them during summer is especially bad. There’s just more of them than any other seasons, it’s hot, and he would rather run up north or at least to a quiet, air-conditioned place than to find one single man in a crowd of thousands.  
  
It is horrible. At the same time, it gives the city life. It gives him life.  
  
Beneath the light that gives the city life, however, is also what is willing to pull the very essence of the city away. It will still be a city, but voided of the very reasons why people flock here, why people are willing to stand up in arms and fight back. Even then, there are human beings who are malicious enough to use these people who fight to fight for their benefit, all so that their agenda is achieved with not a hand dirtied in blood.  
  
Not many dare to fight back.  
  
But someone has to do it. To be willing to go into the darkness itself, to bring the light that these beings shun and hiss at, fearing the light because it shows that their actions have consequences that they do not accept.  
  
And this is where Corvo is right now, walking amongst the crowd, an enigma like any other. And it’s better this way, in the crowd that reminds himself of what it feels to be invisible and human at the same time. What he is going to do today is to meet with a person in question in need of his help.  
  
According to William, it’s a task that is fit for Corvo because he is conveniently in London right now, and because the target at hand is rather… famous. A celebrity. And so is the person he is going to meet.  
  
William is more than willing to put this job onto him. That is a bureaucratic understatement. By more than willing, it means having William appear at the doorsteps of his hotel room. And by putting the job on to Corvo, it means that he threatened the Japanese Assassin to act now or the other branches will do the job instead.  
  
There goes his chance to go to Heathrow and catch his flight home. He sends a phone call to Link, apologizing that he won't be back home as soon as expected. He feels bad that something like this is no longer new, yet he appreciates Link's reply that it was alright and sends blessings from himself and everybody else.  
  
It would be much more of a blessing to be able to do it with company than going solo. As Link reminds him, however, Corvo has been more capable to do it by himself.  
  
He had the feeling that it’s thanks to the fact that he has done such missions before with no setbacks whatsoever, and the fact that in his public life he is almost certainly a celebrity himself that William thought that it was a job fit for Corvo.  
  
And if it meant that it is a mission given to him personally by Miles, he’s more than certain that the other Assassin cells are on high alert and uneasy about dealing with it with a firm hand.  
  
_Yes, it will be fitting as long as they don’t know who I am,_ Corvo thinks. He wasn’t certain how much people will recognise him, but in the music world, there’s always a chance that someone knows you one way or another.  
  
His contact is not meant to be in Oxford Circus. But it’s early enough for him to enjoy the hustle and bustle before going to the Underground for a trip up north of the city.  
  
He eventually finds the contact smoking outside a nearby supermarket upon coming out of Highbury & Islington station. Thank god the meeting location is in North London or else Corvo is more than willing to throttle a poor bystander that stands in his path.  
  
“You are Mr Howard, I presume?” he calls out to the smoking blond, silently approaching him.  
  
From the blond’s expression, he had probably not expect someone like him to speak like a proper upper class man. And judging by that face of surprise, it won’t take long for the drummer to piece together who he is. Small world indeed.  
  
“Wait a minute, aren’t you--” Before he can point it out, Corvo holds his hand up.  
  
“We’re under different circumstances here, so it’s best that you don’t say my name out loud.”  
  
“Alright. But you did give me a fucking fright there,” he chuckles nervously, taking another drag from the cigarette to calm his nerves.  
  
“And being a walking chimney is a big help, Mr Howard,” Corvo points him out.  
  
“Can you not call me Mr Howard and just call me Dom? It makes me sound old,” Dominic grimaces.  
  
“Sorry, I tend to use formalities for the seniors,” Corvo smirked. When Dom grimaced even more at his reply, he chuckled. “I do wish we can know each other at another occasion than this. Should Dominic suffice?”  
  
“Yeah. Okay, that’s fine by me,” Dom nods. “But can you also tone down that poshness of yours? It kind of feels weird.”  
  
“Fine by me,” Corvo holds out his hand. “For now, call me Corvo.”  
  
“Corvo… Okay then,” Dominic huffs out a laugh, shaking his hand. “Not new that you guys back in Japan love your privacy so much to have other names anyway.”  
  
“Right…” He would’ve loved to say that this chosen name carries far more than just another translation for ‘Crow’, but he lets that one slide away. No point in explaining it when it’s just another name to everybody else.  
  
“So what are you then if right now you’re not a frontman?” Dominic asks, dropping his burnt out cigarette to the ground and stepping on it.  
  
“Consulting Investigator.”  
  
The drummer raises his eyebrow, no doubt suspecting that it sounds more like it came from a reference.  
  
“So what seems to be the problem that got me dragged out of the way here?” Corvo asks, rather wanting the conversation to change towards what is considered the important subject.  
  
Dominic stares at him before he sighs and changes the subject.  
  
“Just… Matt wouldn’t believe it, but I’ve been seeing some guys around following us. They’re not our usual bodyguards. And they don’t look friendly.”  
  
“Interesting.” _Not._ “And some unfriendly looking men are scaring you instead of Matthew?” Corvo crosses his arms, his posture showing every bit that he’s still not convinced by Dominic.  
  
“He just thinks that they’re stalkers. But I’ve seen them following us around everywhere. Not just in venues, but even travelling to wherever we go.”  
  
“So you never had an inkling to call the police instead?” Corvo asks. While it is concerning, it isn’t a danger yet. Unless said stalker is a lot more dangerous than one thinks.  
  
“I’ve never been like Matt, but I don’t think that the police can help. I’ll show you why,” Dominic pulls a used, folded napkin out of his pocket. Unfolding it, Corvo spots a pen drawn drawing, its logo’s similarity to the Penrose Triangle left him in surprise and in grim thoughts.  
  
"Ah," he simply says.  
  
On the tissue, it is the logo that belongs to Abstergo.  
  
Which also means Templars.  
  
“Where did you spot this?”  
  
“One of the men dropped a business card by accident. I was quick to pick it up.”  
  
“It’s understandable then, of your predicament,” Corvo voices it out cryptically. “You’ll have my contact numbers when I can provide information and answers.”  
  
Phone numbers exchanged, Dominic says that his smoking break is over and he has to go back soon.  
  
“It can’t be that bad, right?” Dominic smiles as he waves the man off and walks away.

“It’s bad enough that I now know why they sent me out here,” the Assassin mutters ominously to himself.  
  
\----  
  
After checking out of the hotel and then settling in an apartment that acts as a safe house, Corvo starts his work on investigating his target. He has a place to live in London, but right now he is incognito, and it is safer to perform his tasks and duty somewhere safer and far less likely to be caught.  
  
Finding out information on what caught Abstergo’s attention on Matthew is to say, not very helpful. He is not sure of how big of a magnitude this problem is yet, so until then, asking Rebecca for help would be unnecessary unless he wants to face a stressed out computer engineer snarking back at him. He is already more than capable in hacking into Abstergo’s servers to find out.  
  
After more than an hour’s searching and reading and nothing that actually perks up attention for him to notice, he closes his laptop and decides that going outside would probably yield more results than this.  
  
He should also call in a cleaning crew to clean up the apartment. He should’ve known that the last team that came by and used it didn’t fucking keep their promise to clean up the hideout. Between the choice of getting scolded by Poppy for deciding to compromise one of their safe houses or having to clean the whole flat by himself, he can withstand Poppy’s berating to choose the former.  
  
After all, it’s not like he won’t do background check-ups to make sure that the ones that he will hire are ‘clean’ themselves. And they won’t do anything funny, not while he watches over them like a hawk.  
  
A couple of days later, when Matthew came out by himself from the studio; Corvo, donned in a simple disguise of a long coat, glasses and a cap, finishes his coffee and starts following after the singer from a distance.  
  
\----  
  
Tailing his target, Matthew James Bellamy, is surprisingly tricky. A quick look on the information about him, and some quick visual references while following him around confirmed to Corvo that Matthew likes delving into conspiracies, from aliens to governmental secret plots. Matthew wouldn’t be far from the truth by the extent of his enthusiasm when he talks about it, but it was also what raised some red flags and what made this happen.  
  
He also has a healthy dose of paranoia.  
  
There were more than a few times that Matthew would turn around and look at his surroundings, and Corvo had to react quickly in hiding in crowds or behind walls. If he weren’t checking his back from time to time, then Matthew would suddenly run too, forcing Corvo to follow along quickly.  
  
A tricky little stoat is what Matthew is, in Corvo’s opinion. Then again, with how he got both the Assassins and Templars’ attentions zoning in on him, he couldn’t blame Matthew for it. The poor guy needs it if he is going to get out of this whole situation alive.  
  
Right now, he (well, and also Poppy) is the only one who is preventing the Assassins and Templars from letting their paranoia get to them and taking down Matthew, and having to find out if Matthew is truly harmless or not.  
  
By the time that Matthew went into a narrow alley that Corvo thinks that he is taking a shortcut, the Assassin is already on the rooftops, observing the short man from above. His cap has been switched away in favour of a hood that has been hiding under the coat. So far there is not much indication that Matthew is in danger. Well, not until Corvo felt that something about this area is not right.  
  
His senses are battering him with an urge to _see_ what is wrong. By instinct, he turns on his Eagle Vision to check whether there are a few who had followed Matthew too. He finds out that he was right, yet at the same time, he has horribly underestimated the number of men sent out for Matthew.  
  
Counting quickly, there around seven of them. Shit. There are more of them out there than he expects. Hired mercenaries. And they have guns to boot. Corvo chides at himself for this oversight. How is he going to get Matthew out alive without alerting both the singer and the mercenaries of his involvement here?  
  
He almost got surprised when his phone buzzed. Yanking his phone out of his pocket, Corvo is surprised to see who it is on the caller screen.  
  
“Dominic, now is not a good time to call me,” he hisses at the phone, more than worried about the situation at hand and keeping an eye on the mercenaries from reaching their target.  
  
“What do you mean by that?” Dom asks in confusion.  
  
“I’m in a very troubling situation from where I am right now.”  
  
“Sorry, it’s just that I saw Bells going into an alley, and I followed him--”  
  
On second thought, there _is_ a way out.  
  
“Dominic, I need you to do me a favour right now,” Corvo talks in a low voice. “Get Matthew out of there without raising any suspicions. Get him away from the alley and as far away as possible.”  
  
“Wait, what are y--”  
  
“Just do it. I’ll answer your questions later,” Corvo whispers almost too loud, hoping that Dominic would catch the urgency in his voice and help him out. Luckily, he does.  
  
“Okay, I’ll just--” The phone went off and very soon a shout is heard.  
  
"Hey Matt, the shops aren't there, you twat!" Corvo hears Dom shout out, _cringing_. So much for discretion. But it did made the rest of them freeze in place and panic, so that works more in Corvo’s favour as he sneaks up to the nearest one hiding behind a duct and stabbed the man dead.  
  
With Matthew safe and gone after seeing him leave the alley with Dominic, he can now get rid the rest of the mercenaries.

“Something tells me that you either dug a little too deep or you got something more behind your back, Mr Bellamy,” Corvo says to himself as he puts the silencer on his pistol.


	2. Chapter 2

“What were you doing there?!” Dom almost wanted to shout, all but dragging the brunet back to the busy streets.  
  
“I saw some fans trying to stalk me, and I had to shake them off before I could go on,” Matt explains. “I didn’t know you were going to join me.”  
  
“You left me when I was going to the restroom. I was lucky to be able to keep up and find you,” Dom huffs. “And you still want to go for that restaurant we went to last time rather than the pub near the studio?”  
  
“I was craving for their breadsticks.”  
  
“Matt.”  
  
“ _Breadsticks_ , Dom,” Matt whined.  
  
He is more than annoyed that Matt would callously leave him behind when the drummer had shown signs that he has been worried of the brunet. And calling to Corvo only to pick up how close Matt’s life was in danger has him bordering on paranoia right now, but he has to keep calm, and pretend that he is fine in front of Matt.  
  
Corvo has told him to take Matt as far away from this area as possible, more than hinting to Dom that it’s not safe to stay here for long. And the restaurant that Matt wants to go to is far from here, requiring a couple of line changes in the Tube. Suspecting what kind of danger Matt almost got into from the alley, his safety is Dom’s priority right now.  
  
Dom sighs. “We’ll get a cab. It’s faster that way.”  
  
The drummer is more than sure that people are watching them hold hands together, if they are, he blatantly ignores them in favour of spotting any passing cabs that are available.  
  
Whatever situation Corvo was in that resulted in him asking Dom to get Matt out of that alley, it definitely wasn’t good. Two men holding hands for two completely different reasons is the least of Dom’s concerns.  
  
When a cab finally stops and picks them up, the blond swears that he can hear what sounds like gunshots above the rooftops, but then it might be his mind playing with him and the annoying loud noises of an ambulance passing by.  
  
\----  
  
Dominic has been around London more times than he could remember, and yet he had never been to the tea house that Corvo had invited him over to meet up for a talk. When he sent the address to the drummer, he even left a little note that he needs to say to the waiting staff before he can meet the other.  
  
“I’m here for Mr Arthur Zhang?” Dominic said when the server greeted him.  
  
Soon, he was ushered into a small seat by the corner of the room, away from the front windows. There sat Corvo, with _The Guardian_  newspaper in his hands, and an afternoon tea set already prepared for two.  
  
When Corvo looks up from the papers and sees Dominic seating himself, he greets him. “Good afternoon, Dominic. Do you have room for some food?”  
  
He could’ve refused the offer if his stomach didn’t betray him in a loud protest. Corvo said nothing as Dom picked up a sandwich and munched on it while pouring himself a cup of tea. On Corvo’s own plate sits a half-eaten glazed bun that Dom has never seen before. There is also one left untouched on the tray set, most likely to be shared for him.  
  
“I didn’t know you have a side job,” Dom starts. “Thought you lot were doing well enough to do music full time.”  
  
“Sometimes I like to do something different once in a while when the inspiration is on the lull,” Corvo answers. “Observant eyes and ears can give you a lot to notice things most of us don’t.”  
  
“So you’re doing private investigations as a side hobby or job around here?” Dom raises his eyebrow, sipping his tea. He finally decides to pick the golden brown bun out of the tray and took a bite, and immediately wanted to sing praises to the bun. Holy shit, it tastes so  _good_.  
  
“Only when it is interesting.”  
  
“You didn’t look that interested when we first met to talk about it,” Dom points it out, even while his mouth is full of soft bread and sweet, gravy meat fillings.  
  
“I thought it won’t be, until I’ve seen that it is,” a sly grin crooks up the ends of Corvo’s lips as he flips to read the next page of news, clearly amused either by their conversation, Dom’s orgasmic face, or both.  
  
“So… Is everything alright?” he finally asks after his stomach feels satiated. That glazed meat bun was a lot more delicious than he thought.  
  
“Matthew is harmless, if that’s what you want to know.” Dom looks in between being skeptical and relieved of Corvo’s words until he holds his finger up to pause the drummer before he continues.  
  
“However, just what has he been doing to pick up the attention of a  _mega corporation_?”  
  
“You mean Abstergo?”  
  
“Yes, that,” Corvo drinks his tea, sounding miffed at it. “Have you forgotten that?”  
  
“Err… No,” Dominic blinks, not understanding the taller man’s cynicism towards it. “They’re a pretty good company. Even sponsored part of a music festival we last went to.”  
  
Corvo barks out a laugh, startling him. “For a man who has been hailed as a genius, why hasn’t he badgered you on about what that corporation has been doing behind our backs?”  
  
“Do you think that we can… talk about it here?” Dominic asks, looking at the tearoom warily. There are eyes on the two from people on nearby tables.   
  
“Hm, you’re right. How about we talk this somewhere more private?”  
  
Once they paid up, they stand up and prepare to leave. Only instead of walking towards the front door, Corvo ushers the blond to follow him down the hallways and towards a door with ‘Private’ sign there. They enter into the small room and Corvo locks the door from behind him.  
  
In the small office, Corvo busies himself by checking on a ledger book first before he makes a grunt of approval and turns his attention back to the blond.  
  
“You own this place?” Dom asks.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“So why did you pay when you could’ve not done it?”  
  
“And does being rich and famous obliged others to give us things freely and we take it without consideration?” Corvo smoothly counters back.  
  
To that, Dom keeps his mouth shut.  
  
“Now sit down,” Corvo waits until Dom is seated before he starts. “So, Matthew. Abstergo. Conspiracy. Sponsored music festival.”  
  
“What do you want to know about it?”  
  
“I am under the assumption that you know more than you let on,” Corvo tilts his head to the side. “Big corporations and governments have secrets that they don’t like to be leaked, nor to be revealed. So what did Matthew do to get Abstergo’s attention, Dominic?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Dom shrugs, eyes blatantly looking away from the Japanese man.  
  
“You  _do_  know,” Corvo insists. “And I need your cooperation here because this is a big fucking problem that I am seeing here. And I doubt that even you would dare think that Abstergo is, and I quote, ‘a pretty good company.’”  
  
“That’s the problem! I don’t know because Matt’s not saying anything. He keeps brushing me off whenever I tell him about the danger that he might be in!” Dom answers, words bursting out of his mouth without regard. He slides down the chair as he sighs, rubbing his temples.  
  
“Aside from that, how did you managed to know that Matthew is in danger in the first place?” Corvo asks. He’d been suspicious about the whole story so far, and he believes that it lies on Dom himself to explain his part of the story.  
  
“When I found the card, I went online to check about the company name itself, and I couldn’t find anything suspicious about it. It doesn’t even exist in the stock exchange market, yet it’s heavily invested if it’s an influential corporate. I’ve dug around more, and I found some leaked files that got me a little unnerved. Especially if it involves Matt himself if he may have found what I saw,” Dom says. “He can be a prick, and over the top with what he reads and says--”  
  
That, Corvo thinks, he can agree on.  
  
“--but he’s not serious all the time. He takes the piss out of it sometimes. The fact that something like a mega corporation is involved with those strange guys in plain clothes is what alarmed me because there’s no way that Matt can be an actual threat!”  
  
“Dominic, calm down,” Corvo reaches out to pat the drummer on the shoulder, concerned for the blond after his rant. “If it gives you some peace in your mind, I don’t think that Matthew has caused big trouble yet. But I do agree that there’s something going on that doesn’t make sense to the situation.”  
  
“Sorry, I overreacted.” Dom slumps down on his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose.  
  
“You’re making this look like I am giving you an interrogation,” Corvo says, crossing his arms and leaning against the desk. “And I haven’t even pull out the good cop/bad cop card.”  
  
“Yeah, well, how much do you like it when you have secrets to keep that feels like it can burst out at any time?” Dom retorts.  
  
“Not a lot. And I’ve been doing this for years compared to weeks,” Corvo answers. When Dom says nothing in return, he continues. “I don’t know how big the problem is so far, but from what I’ve seen so far with a mercenary force that almost caught him, I’m starting to see that your concerns hold a lot of what has been going on that troubles you.”  
  
“I’m scared. I don’t know what Matt has been doing, but whatever it is, it’s not good.”  
  
“So you are suggesting to me that Matthew might be a whistleblower?”  
  
Dom freezes, giving a hard look at Corvo before he reluctantly nods. “I hate to admit it, but I think so.”  
  
Corvo only hums, the gaze of his heterochromatic eyes are kept towards Dom, lingering there like a piercing stare into his soul that left the drummer feeling uncomfortable to be subjected to it.  
  
“We’re done for the day,” Corvo says. “For now, I suggest that you increase the security around yourselves. Even then, it’s best not to completely give your trust to them.”  
  
“Got it,” he nods.  
  
“Until then, keep an eye on him.”  
  
Once Dom has left, Corvo sits down and sags to the chair with a groan. This is all that he can work with. Despite it being an important element to his investigation, it still lacks what will help him lead to the problem of what started this. With that, they have to make do with what can be a lead towards where they’re going.  
  
\----  
  
A few days after Dom has paid a visit to Corvo at the tearoom, the shop is closed on the evening and there are only two people remaining there. A dark-skinned young woman looked at a Japanese man, walking back and forth in the gardens, his face changing in between being reasonable and frustrated, looking more than willing to break the phone in his hand right now.  
  
"Bill, I can handle this. Just a few more days and we'll get the deal."  
  
"No-- No, I am so close to getting their sponsorship. They need more coaxing before they’ll sign it."  
  
“Just stay patient and we’ll be clinching the deal sooner or later. I can promise you that.”  
  
From the conversation itself, it’s easy to think that he is talking about business matters with another associate. Poppy knows, however, that that is one of the ways to throw off many people from what they're talking about. Even the facial expression and actions on Corvo makes them think that he is an entrepreneur in a convincing manner. No one suspects the layers of secrets hidden behind those words unless one has been given the cypher for it.  
  
When he returns from the garden and sat back to his seat, he looks more like a man in near defeat than one who was angry before on the phone.  
  
“Poppy, I am stumped,” Corvo groans, pushing a laptop away for his head to rest on the desk and opting for the warm cup of hot chocolate that’s been there when he went out to talk to the phone.  
  
She walks towards him to pat his back.  
  
“Is it the Bellamy problem?” she asked softly. She got a groan as a response. “How bad is it?”  
  
“We traced the calls from the mercenaries that I shot dead, and I already knew that it had ties to Abstergo, but none of them seem to indicate on what they want from him,” he explains, more than frustrated that their efforts so far has not brought in anything new or relevant. "As far as it is concerned, he doesn't have any vendetta towards the Templars, or us for that matter."  
  
The bald woman has her lips in a tight line. They are doing this research and investigation together, and Poppy is just as stumped as Corvo is.  
  
Rebecca had informed them days ago that she was monitoring Abstergo and somehow Matt’s name popped up a few weeks ago, but the data was far too encrypted and she was busy on other more pressing matters. And then Dom called up and enquired of needing a private investigator on solving and dealing a stalker problem on Matt. Both of these events are what caused William to personally meet with Corvo to take the job and investigate. The problem that they are suffering from is that they don’t know what is going on, aside that Abstergo is up to its tricks again and is planning or already have started kidnapping people again. Dom wants answers, and so do they.  
  
He shudders at the thought of it. Corvo is not the kind to jump to conclusions quickly without gathering information to know what he is dealing with. They can take the slow and steady route so long as they are able to prevent the whole situation to go down south.  
  
“We don’t have much time. We don’t have much resources. William is badgering me that the other branches are getting uneasy about the news, and any time soon, their nerves will break and  _I_  have to keep them away,” Corvo messes with his hair, letting out a sigh.  
  
“Well, first of all, it is  _we_ , including Mr Howard,” Poppy huffs, giving Corvo a light smack on the head. “And second, I understand your plight here.”  
  
“Why am I working with a bunch of highly-trained, paranoid idiots rather than a bunch of highly-trained, paranoid experts?” Corvo groans. "Really wishing that I refused that mission and didn't stay here now. I could be back in Tokyo, stressing about my actual work. What the hell was William thinking when he just gave me this mission without even telling me why he gave me it?"  
  
She gives him a soft smile.  
  
“I’ve been working with you for more than 6 years, and I still can’t believe how little trust they have in you when you’re one of their best to be called an Assassin and a friend that I know of.”  
  
“They never forget on what I’ve done, Poppy, even if Bill and Mochizuki have forgiven my actions,” Corvo answers with sigh, holding her hand and squeezing it tightly. “At least he and the other higher ups are keeping them back.”  
  
After some time of silence between the two of them, mulling over the obstacle that is needed to be cleared so badly, something clicked. It wasn’t much of an idea as it is another way to find their answers.  
  
“Infiltration?” Corvo looks at her. Poppy nods.  
  
“Infiltration.”  
  
\----  
  
The Abstergo building is an ugly sight to be seen in London. It had all the sleek designs of a modern building, and yet it marred itself by putting the logo on the glass panes of building. It shows off as though it is the most pretentious beacon for everyone to see. And so easy to find in Canary Wharf.  
  
Getting into the building is not but a piece of cake. After avoiding the cameras and knocking several guards down and hide their bodies elsewhere, of course. To top it off, who would’ve expected someone to climb and scale the 40 storey building itself at midnight anyways?  
  
Finding the right keycard from one of the several roaming security guards is the one that took his time to be able to gain security access to the level for where he is going. Corvo is soon unlocking the door to the most important room: The servers.  
  
Entering the large room that takes up almost the entire floor, he gives a sniff at the cold, glassy interior, hard drives lined up and blinking on the sides. In the middle stands a lonely computer, beckoning to him for all the knowledge that it will provide.  
  
“ _You still don’t like that room?_ ” Poppy teased through the comms.  
  
“I’m tempted to just melt their whole servers down,” he mutters. And he would actually do that. His eyes are on the cameras within the room. Unlike the ones from the outside, these are unavoidable in any case. Luckily, with the program in his smartphone, he has made himself ‘invisible’ to the cameras by distorting the system’s facial recognition. The hood and bandanna helps too.  
  
“ _Try and keep that plan on hold. You got an answer to find there._ ”  
  
“Yes, ma’am,” he replies back with a grin and approaches the computer.  
  
From the lining of his coat, he pulls a hacking tool with a cable line attached to it out of the hidden pocket. After he plugs it into the USB port and presses a few buttons, it doesn’t take long for the small drive to do its work. In a few minutes, Corvo has logged into the computer. He starts by searching for relevant information about Matthew. Again, as he’d suspected, nothing came up about him being a threat. After all that has happened, the frustration is rearing its ugly head on the man.  
  
It doesn’t make sense. Why go after a man who just finds such information from forum websites? Matthew would’ve been more conspicuous than your average crazy man on the street with a cardboard claiming about secret governments and the end of the world is nigh.  
  
Hell, the closest the Templars have gotten to catching those who managed to have actually found out about Abstergo’s dirty secrets and projects were either killed, kidnapped and never seen again, or rescued and joined the Assassins.  
  
Unless...  
  
He decides to take a different approach to this, fingers typing away and searching for an entirely different source of information. He batters himself inwardly for having never thought of this after more than a week of investigation.  
  
What if, in theory, all this nonsense that Matthew knows too much about Abstergo is to throw them off from something else that they want from him? Something more valuable than a whistleblower?  
  
After a few minutes of scrolling and searching on the servers, while hoping that his hypothesis is false, he came to check on the bio data of Matthew James Bellamy and his ancestors. And he has finally found the answer.  
  
“Well shit, now this is the jackpot,” he comments to himself, putting the files into an external hard drive that he’d brought along, and sending Matthew’s bio data to Poppy. He takes pictures of the computer screen and sends it off, knowing that the photos will reach to her faster than the files.  
  
“Poppy, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Corvo asks, waiting for the files to finish being transferred. Alongside Matthew’s bio data were a list of names written down of their potential genetic memories. The singer is not the only one in the list, but he stood out more than the others do.  
  
“ _Holy shit,_ ” is all Poppy said through the earpiece.  
  
“Send the screenshots to Rebecca first. I’ll send the rest of the data to them later,” he informs her. “We need a little spring cleaning here.”  
  
The world may not know it, but Matthew has ancestors who are both of Templar and Assassin heritage. And exactly what Abstergo would love grab on with their dirty hands to be exploited.  
  
Corvo grimly watches and waits as the last of the data is transferred to the hard drive. Abstergo does that to the people that they have captured, including the Assassins too. He will not let Abstergo turn Matthew into another subject to be exploited, another number in the system to be forgotten with no name to speak of.  
  
His business in Abstergo’s building is done. For now.  
  
Even as he walked out of the headquarters, with its power cut off and the rest of their security guards in frantic alarm and the cameras disabled, he isn’t sure whether if his next decision is worth the risk or not.  
  
He doesn’t like it, but Dominic must know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was hell to deal with finding parts that are missing that needed to be filled in and given better details to it. Editing is a bitch when you're checking for your own mistakes and errors and just knowing that something is lacking on which parts. 
> 
> Already in chapter two and Corvo starts to have more details in his character, and we have Poppy appeared here!


	3. Chapter 3

_“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?”_  
― Lewis Carroll,  _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass_  
   
Dominic is not sure what this teahouse is. At best, he guesses that it’s Indian. He starts to wonder if Corvo earns part of his income from owning and managing two teahouses. He’s positive that the Japanese man owns more than just two of them.  
   
Once he said that he was going to meet a certain Mr Harold Tagore, he was ushered to the kitchen instead of an office or to wherever Corvo is sitting. Okay, this is new.  
   
He didn’t expect to be pushed into a dumbwaiter. It was too late to get out as the door slid shut and the dumbwaiter is already descending. When it finally stopped and open, Dominic stepped out of the small box and finds a narrow hallway that leads to a room, freaked out by such a method to transport him to another location. This is definitely not the storage area or a larger kitchen in a basement.  
   
He finds Corvo sitting on an armchair, busy reading of all things, Lewis Carroll's ‘Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland’. A pot of tea is set up by the desk.  
   
“ _Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it_ ,” he suddenly recites a line that from Dom’s memories of reading that book, is from the very first chapter itself.  
   
“ _And burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge._  
   
“ _In another moment down went Alice after it_ ,” Corvo closes the book and looks at Dom as he finishes the last line, “ _never once considering how in the world she was to get out again_.”  
   
“How long have you been reading that?” Dom asks, a bit creeped out that the man can quote those lines so well when he saw so clearly that Corvo was close to finishing the book.  
   
“About an hour or so. This is the second time that I reread it by now.”  
   
“What did you bring me here for this time?”  
   
“I invited you here to give you something that you need to know,” Corvo crosses his fingers together. As soon as Dom is seated down, he starts with this.  
   
“First of all, what you claimed to me was a lie.”  
   
“Excuse me?” Dominic raises his eyebrow.  
   
“Matthew was never a whistleblower in the first place. They want Matthew for a different type of ulterior motive. They want to kidnap him and exploit him. But you,” he gazes at Dom with a hard, piercing stare. “You needed something to make sense. A validation of sorts to rationalise the logic and reason of what has been happening so far.”  
   
As Dom sat there in shock, still trying to let that information sink in. He should be angry at Corvo, but instead remorse comes into being and sinks down at full force. His shoulder sagged at what he realised what he’d been thinking the whole time.  
   
“Fuck,” he whispers. “Fuck… I’ve been leading him to a trap myself.”  
   
Corvo is already trying to think and prepare for what he has to say next to prevent Dom from getting angry at him, even though he does not appear like it yet.  
   
“You didn’t, Dominic,” he reassures the blond. “What you haven’t fucked up was to contact us, and I was able to fix it before it got worse. If not, then Matthew is helpless at the hands of Abstergo and you were only able to do so much while they drag him away.”  
   
“There’s… There’s no way that can happen,” the drummer forces out a harsh chuckle. “Bells will fight with everything that he has with his life for that.”  
   
"This is why the discussion will be back to that music festival," Corvo continues in a calm manner. "Did Matthew donated blood while he was there? Or had an injury that requires medical attention?"  
   
“Now that you’ve said it…” Dom thinks about it for a moment, snapping his fingers when he does recall the day of the festival. “Yeah, I remember! He tripped over and had this large gash on his arm while we were performing on stage. It was bleeding a lot and needed stitches.”  
   
“Then that explains it.”  
   
“Explains what?”  
   
“You are terribly impatient for answers,” Corvo sighs loudly. “As I will explain, I had a theory that he might’ve caused the ire of someone of high ranking within Abstergo, and they want to get him. I haven’t put that theory off yet, but I have another more plausible theory. It was that they have been taking blood samples illegally under a guise of a blood donation drive or something else. So the chances that Abstergo has been secretly taking blood samples is a far more likely cause to this.”  
   
Dom frowns. “Why go after him when they already have what they wanted?”  
   
“Most likely, they still don’t have the required budget, manpower or clearance needed to extract the genetic information of his ancestry just by his blood. And he has hasn’t been cooperative with the corporation judging by what has been happening. So why not kidnap him and hide their trails?”  
   
Dom blinks, confused by what Corvo is explaining to him. Genetic information? Matt’s ancestry? “And how will they do that?”  
   
“By any means necessary to them,” Corvo answers seriously. “If Matthew is ever caught by Abstergo, he probably won’t escape from them with his sanity intact, much less his life.”  
   
“Why is a corporation doing something illegal like this? Shouldn’t at least governments be aware of that?”  
   
“Abstergo is more than just a mega corporation with corrupt and manipulative power over many. They have strings to their puppets in high places. It’s a front for an ancient order that we’ve been fighting against.”  
   
“Why do you mean by ‘we’?” Dom asks. This day has been getting weirder and weirder. It is as though he is stuck in a very lucid dream.  
   
_Here comes the kicker_ , Corvo thinks, preparing himself for what comes next with the speech that he has. He clears his throat as he starts.  
   
“I work in an ancient order that not many have known. We have been in a war against another order that has spanned through human civilization itself. It’s another reason why I called you down here. There is something that you should know about what I am talking about without thinking that it’s nonsense.”  
   
“What is it? The truth?”  
   
“Not the truth,” Corvo gives an almost unnoticeable grin. “It’s more of what you and most of the people in the world don’t know. The very knowledge and history of everything that you’ve known of has another story behind its curtains. And those behind the curtains have manipulated history to be in their favour.”  
   
“And it lies with two different sides fighting against each other?”  
   
Corvo nods. Dom on the other hand, crosses his arms and sits back, still in doubt of the younger man’s words. It all sounds too far-fetched for him, even for Matt if he’s here to hear this.  
   
“What proof do you have that makes you think that I should trust that story of yours?”  
   
Corvo sighs. “I was expecting that.”  
   
He then pulls a file out of the drawer and lays it out on top of the desk.  
   
“This is what I picked up from the Abstergo building in Canary Wharf. It’s the only kind in its physical existence before I destroyed the rest of it,” he explains. “Open it, and read it.”  
   
With that voice of authority that Corvo conjures, Dom reluctantly picks the file and and does what Corvo says. Corvo waits as he watches the blond read through the papers. Dom’s face changes from that of shock, to worry, to anger, to horror, and finally to resigned acceptance.  
   
“What the hell…?” is all that Dom can muster out of his mouth.  
   
“It’s best that you get comfortable, and I hope you got a lot of time at hand. I got a lot to tell you about, and at the end of it, you’re more likely to see me being more insane than your dear friend,” Corvo puts his chin on his hands as he looks intently at Dom.  
   
Dom bites his cheeks, not sure if he is ready for some heavy-handed shit that is going to be shown to him. But he stays in his seat and nods. “I’m all ears.”  
   
With that, Corvo starts pouring tea for the two of them. He no longer questions whether if it is worth telling the drummer of what Corvo is dealing with, what he thinks of the actual situation is. As the words start to spill out of his lips, he knew that the blond has already fallen into the very rabbit hole that he himself had once done so.  
   
Whether he’ll find a way to crawl out of it or not is another matter entirely.  
   
\----  
   
Corvo picks up the teapot to pour some tea into his cup, the hot drink a much needed reprieve after a long while spent talking and explaining to the blond of what he is, and the unravelling knowledge that answers the uncomfortable truth. Dom looks shaken, but not shocked after telling the drummer what Corvo really is the whole time.  
   
An Assassin.  
   
The same man that he entrusted on investigating and protecting Matthew, had been killing people to do it. Professionally doing so. It shouldn’t be surprising once he pieces the puzzles together. When Corvo had urged him to get Matthew out of that alley, it had rang some bells of the danger that he was in, but then the lull of peace came in and Dom had almost forgotten then.  
   
“Why tell me all this? Why show me the file and the secrets? Shouldn’t Matt be the one to know?” Dom has a lot of questions in his mind, and he wants answers for each of them. Corvo shifts in his seat, trying to put them at ease with each other with careful wordings.  
   
“He doesn’t know anything about it, much less aware of how powerful Abstergo is in reality. If anything, the reason why I am telling you all of this is because  _you_  are the one who picked up the dangers of it and looked after him the whole time. That’s why I think that you should be the one know about it.”  
   
“Why me? What would you guys do that can make Abstergo or Templars or something even the bad guy in this?”  
   
“The Assassins are just as likely to get rid of anyone that are infiltrating them and possibly get a list of known members and their locations be leaked out, that I can admit,” Corvo looks at Dom with a grim face. “The Templars on the other hand… are even worse. I've told you already what they will do to him if he is caught."  
   
Dom leans back against the chair as he thinks of what Matt’s disappearance would curtail and still letting all this sink in. In the past, he and Chris and Tom simply accepted Matt’s disappearance as one of Matt’s ways to deal with the newfound fame that they have. But this is different from being young, promising musicians. If he disappears this time…  
   
He doesn’t want to think any further. “Why haven’t they acted on doing that yet? They could’ve already done it rather than doing the slow wait.”  
   
“There’s precisely two reasons why: One, they can’t outright kidnap a famous musician, and two, no matter where he goes, there’s always someone who is by his side. Namely your bodyguards, your friends, and especially you.”  
   
The blond is reassured by that. But if Matt were to ever disappear if they didn’t noticed-- He shudders. “How are we going to save him out of this trouble? How are  _you_  going to stop them from attempting another kidnapping?”  
   
“The good news is that I’ve already wiped his database alongside with a list of names off of Abstergo’s servers and his importance has not yet reached the higher ups of the Inner Sanctum, but we’ve found that Abstergo already has something like an insurance in case this happened.”  
   
Corvo frowns as he continues to explain the trouble. “And at this time, the only ways that we can get him out of their sight and make them unaware of his importance is to get rid of the ones who found out, and to steal their insurance away. I’ve taken down some, but there are a few more left.”  
   
It’s easy for Dom to know what he is talking about. “You’re going to kill them.”  
   
“If they don’t cooperate or have done far too much harm to everyone, then they must face the consequences anyway,” Corvo shrugs. “If they cooperate, I’ll spare them. But sparing their lives is no mercy on my part. It will still ruin their lives.”  
   
“That’s cruel.”  
   
“Aren’t we all when faced with choices that we must face the responsibilities of? There are no ideal options in it,” Corvo gives a dry chuckle, the attempt of a humourous laugh falling flat to Dom. People will die, or worse go into hiding, because they knew about Matt’s ancestry and used a cover to find other people like him. But if they were not dealt with, then they will still continue on their plans. Would he let them do something as heinous as this? Dom thinks and finds that his answer is simple:  he wouldn’t allow it. If they are going to do something like this, of course he will retaliate and stop them. What else was he supposed to do with such a situation?  
   
“Dominic, I have a favour that I want you to do.”  
   
“What is it?” Dom sits up more eagerly than he would’ve liked to show. He wanted to do this right. Right the wrongs. More than anything, he wants to be involved and do something to ease the burden for the Assassin.  
   
"Look after Matthew. And take your time to think about what I have said," Corvo says in a calm voice, pouring the last of the tea out for the both of them, unaware that Dom is deflating on his seat. “You’re going to be in a tour for a while, so Abstergo won’t go after him until then without risking a cause of attention put upon them.”  
   
"What are you going to do now?"  
   
"I got the question to the problem solved, I’ve told you what you should know, and I am going to end the problem itself."  
   
Nodding gravely, Dom finishes the tea and stands up to take his leave. He pauses  
   
“By the way… is there another way out of here?” he asks, flustered.  
   
“Stairs are by the right when you leave the room. You’ll come out next to the toilets.”  
   
Dom thanks him as he closes the door and follows the Assassin’s directions. He soon finds a spiral staircase for him to go up. It’s far better than turning back and trying to cram himself into the small box to do so. When he walked out of the tea house, he sighs in relief to be able to see sunlight and blue skies.  
   
His mind is not like the clear blue skies, but rather in disarray. When this whole thing started, he wasn’t aware of the scale of it. He just thought that there’s some conspiracy level bullshit that the police won’t believe, but a private investigator might take the job so long as they’re paid and got the problem dealt with. He didn’t know that the man who stepped up for it was a singer from a Japanese band, nor was he aware that he is in an ancient order that knew more about what’s going on than Dom does. That Matt would be kidnapped for a corporation’s plan to exploit the people for their own gain.  
   
But now he knows. He now knows of such an existence of two ancient, powerful factions that represents two sides of humanity. One wants to take control of humanity, while the other wants to give freedom to humanity. A war that has been fought over millennials from how they want humanity to be for them. Before there was even scriptures to record down such events, there were already two sides that fought over and over without stopping.  
   
A war that will pull Matthew into, unaware and innocent from it all. And he can’t do much in all of this but to look after the brunet and look out for anyone who looks at them weirdly. That is all that Dom can do.  
   
\-----  
   
Corvo pulls the motorcycle to a stop and shuts the engine off, parking the vehicle a fair distance away from the location that he was given. He doesn’t want to be close to the building until he has the perimeter of it checked out before going in. Sweeping through the area a few times with a pair of binoculars, he can conclude that they’re not guarding the outside that much, so his entrance will not be problematic.  
   
The warehouse is where he will find one of his last targets. The mission has not taken up much of Corvo’s time. It took a few days, but Poppy has finalised that this is where the last of those that he has to get rid of. While she did that, he took the time to find and hunt the rest down. There were some that were easier to deal with by way of threatening them or deleting and stealing their hard drives. And then there were those that had to ‘disappear’ or find ways around to make sure that they’ll never touch upon the subject or see the light of it ever again.  
   
This particular target has to be eliminated, not only because he knew too much, but also because his actions has made him regarded as irredeemable.  
   
To find the location to be in a warehouse by the pier, it confirms Corvo’s suspicions. Ever since that little ‘spring cleaning’ he has done to the Abstergo branch headquarters in Canary Wharf, the Assassins have observed and tracked the rest down to a private boating company affiliated with Abstergo, and would ship their stuff to Rome and Philadelphia.  
   
“This should be one of the last targets on the list. Are there any signs that they’ve left yet, Poppy?” he asks the dark woman through the earpiece.  
   
_“No, it looks like they are still packing things up for the boat.”_  
   
“Good. I’ll have time to catch up to them.” He pulls the hood up and over his head, staring at the warehouse as he approaches the building. His second sight can only show so much, but it confirmed to him that from the amount of red there is within the warehouse, the scientist and the guards joining him are positively inside there.  
   
It feels far too easy to walk in and kill them off one by one before confronting his target. The fact that it was too easy for Corvo to enter should’ve told him that he was in danger as the door behind him shuts down loudly and the alarms are raised.  
   
“ _Aaaaand_  I just walked into a trap,” he deadpans.  
   
“ _Should this be typical for you or not?_ ”  
   
Gunshots are heard and bullets whizzed past above his head by the sides, and he barely managed to take cover behind some crates.  
   
“ _Typical then_ ,” Poppy concludes.  
   
“Do you know how many times have I averted my death from situations like this so far?” he shouts loud enough for Poppy to hear.  
   
“ _A lot._ ”  
   
“I really wish I had brought someone along with me,” he mutters to himself, pulling a gun off of the belt  holster, and fires back once in position.  
   
He curses to himself for bringing a pistol out for this when he should’ve brought in an assault rifle or a shotgun, but it’s better than nothing. He just has to be closer towards the mercenaries and take theirs then. His first few shots back at the men got him lucky as he popped a man with a bullet through his head. Now he just has to take down a few more before he can reach for a better weapon. Great.  
   
Despite how Corvo is in a tight situation, to the mercenaries, in reality, they are more scared of  _him_  more than he is towards having to fight this by all alone and with a smaller firearm. This is coming from the fact that in the 10 minutes since the first gun was fired, already six men are shot down and more are joining the dead. Two of them are veterans, shot through their heads and chests with deadly accuracy.  
   
As more of them steadily went down one by one, to some of the less experienced mercenaries, they are beginning to fear for their lives when their adrenaline is beginning to wane. Their comrades are dead. Every time they think that they got the Assassin cornered, he simply moves on to the next cover, the previous ones blasted to smithereens. The cost of it meant one or two men dead, and the Assassin closing in towards them. What makes it worse is when he managed to pick up one of their weapons and starts firing back with an assault rifle, and more of them joined the dead even faster.  
   
This is one man who is outnumbered by a dozen of them. This is who the mercenaries are facing against that is tearing through them with relentless bullets and determination.  
   
This is what it is like to face the rumoured and deadly Crow.  
   
“Keep on firing! We can take this fucking bird down!” The leader of the mercenaries, Irvine Cowden, shouts. How can he be afraid? He has body armour to keep him going longer, and an assault rifle to keep their target at bay, throwing a few frag grenades for good measure. There is nothing legendary about the Crow, no matter the whispered fears shared among others of the few that barely survived from escaping an encounter with him. He is human, urban legend or not, and humans are vulnerable to death too.  
   
He curses as he knew that he is going to run out of bullets soon, and ducks back behind the concrete barrier to reload and go back in action. Irvine pats through his bags until he finds a new cartridge, and quickly reloads his gun before he can join back the fray of the battle.  
   
With his heartbeat thumping loudly through his ears, something didn’t feel right for Irvine. Concentrating himself and his surroundings, sitting behind the barrier, he notices that the room is silent.  
   
It is awfully,  _terrifyingly_  silent.  
   
If silence is what is left just after reloading his weapon, Irvine thinks while forcing bile to back down from his throat, then does that mean--  
   
Suddenly, a hand shot down from above and pulled him up to his feet by grabbing his collar. Now he is face to face with the Crow, the very Assassin that has killed all of his men. And he has saved Irvine as one of the last.  
   
Up close to the Crow, he doesn’t know what to think, as fear overwhelmed him. Looking at the Assassin through his protective mask, he has never imagined that the Crow would look  _human_ , yet smiled like the Devil.  
   
“ _Hello_ ,” he greets.  
   
Irvine didn’t have time to scream when a blade slit through his throat, air wheezing out and blood spurting down his clothes and Corvo’s arm. And everything eventually goes dark.  
   
Corvo puts the man down to the ground, adrenaline coursing through his muscles, his mind and body acting calm as he assess the results of the bloody skirmish he was in. He says a little prayer to the dead men before turning back to the matter at hand.  
   
“Mercs are done and dealt with,” Corvo informs Poppy. “Has the scientist made his escape yet?”  
   
_“For some reason, he hasn’t,”_ she says in mock surprise _. “I think the doors are jammed.”_  
   
“That is some luck I got there,” he replies.  
   
The scientist is somewhere. No doubt that the skirmish has made him run, but unfortunately for the Templar, he has no means to escape that far away. After the standoff that he was in, it was far too easy for the Assassin to find him in the garage, the boat that was meant for his escape all but floating on the waters.  
   
If he did escaped out of this warehouse, he’ll never, ever run far from the Assassin, because if there’s one other thing that Corvo enjoys, it’s tracking and hunting his target down no matter where they go.  
   
Corvo easily dodges the bullets shooting towards him upon entering the garage. The scientist tried, but he has bad aim. He didn’t have much else to defend himself with as Corvo disarmed him, got him trapped to the edge of the walkway, and the blade is sunk into his abdomen without hesitation.  
   
Corvo takes a good look at the target whose life ends in this warehouse. More or less a few years older than him, black hair with a buzzcut, brown eyes, well shaven, and already dying on the floor. If he wasn’t a Templar in secret, he would’ve been any other man in a white coat working in a sterile environment. The scientist is no Warren Vidic, but he is no less as morally unethical as the top scientist for the Templars is. He has a name rather than being called The Scientist: Robert Fletcher.  
   
“You caught me now, Assassin,” Robert finally speaks when Corvo lays him down on the ground.  
   
“So I did.”  
   
“You lot are nothing but trouble. We can bring humanity into a better understanding of the past!” he exclaims, coughing up blood. “Why this? Why ruin the plans that we have set up?”  
   
“You were going to kidnap a man whose fame can bring attention to the misdeeds of the Templars,” Corvo answers, pointing out the obvious flaw in that coveted plan. “The question that you should answer is why do you want to take such a risky move, Fletcher?”  
   
“What does one man like Bellamy matters?” the scientist coughs again, his body weakening with each passing second. “So long as it benefits us, benefits humanity. Pray tell… Why is an Assassin like you kind enough to speak to me after having killed so many?”  
   
Even at the last moments of his life, Robert wants to prove his defiance and innocence. Corvo has slain such men and women before, and there is nothing innocent about their actions, whether it is to destroy a person’s life or a population. The more they try to claim their innocence, the more it shows that they barely have any humanity left by that point. They aren’t that many enemies or rivals that held Corvo’s respect. This one doesn’t.  
   
“So I can tell you that humanity does not need more of the manipulation and lies that you instill,” the Assassin sinks the blade into the heart, watching as the scientist's eyes show fear as he hears these last words from him. “Nor will you hurt them any longer.”  
   
The dead man in his arms would be surprised to be gently lied down on the ground, with Corvo paying his last respects and closing his eyes. “May you find peace in your long slumber.”  
   
Rifling through the scientist’s pockets, Corvo touches upon something smooth and cubicle and pulls it out. The blood vial is what is left of Matthew's DNA for Corvo to pick up, the history and genetics to his ancestors all there as an insurance. The rest of the evidence will be more than easy to be rid of, Corvo thinks, picking up a kerosene tank.  
   
He walks away as the warehouse burns down, the fires and smoke reaching high up for the darkening skies.  
  
Robert Fletcher the scientist may have died today, but there will always be another one to take their place. For now, it is a small victory to the Assassins. He has succeeded in saving Matthew Bellamy from a fate worse than death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the climax of this arc so far. Yes, this is the first arc of a big story.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We _finally_ get the big reveal here of who is wanting to join the Assassins!

There’s a new ad by Radio 1 on a billboard, Dom had noticed out of the other adverts that the cab had drove by. There is no importance to him whatsoever about the significance of it, only that it caught his attention, and Zane Lowe’s smile and his evening show is now etched into his mind.  
  
Grey eyes are busy watching the familiar colours of a city passing by. He has been tuning out from the cab driver talking to him and only answering to the talkative man whenever he asks a question to him with a smile and a shake of head. The address that he was given via text is still within the borders of Greater London, but it is a lot farther away than both tea houses that he had last visited.  
  
The third tea house that Dom has been invited to is, to his surprise when he’d finally arrived, an honest-to-god Japanese tea house. When he walks in, the tea lady does not even need to ask him how many seats are needed or wait for him to tell them who he is meeting; she simply guided him towards the back end of the tea room and left him to it.  
  
Upon entering, he finds himself in what he thought feels like he’d stepped into a worldly place. The red bricked building behind him reminds him that he is still very much in Britain, yet he might as well be in a tea garden in Japan. Following the winding stone path, he walks towards a small tea house and spots Corvo very much relaxed in there. Tea and several Japanese traditional sweets are served to them both once he took off his shoes and sat across the Assassin.  
  
It’s been weeks since he had last heard from him, but Dom is no fool to ignore the news, especially about a warehouse fire that was found to have dead men with weapons in the wrecked building. A scientist by the name of Robert Fletcher who works for Abstergo was found amongst the deceased, and he was one of the only lucky few that got identified. A lot of the bodies were burned beyond recognition, and the guns found there are damaged beyond repair from the high heat and intensity of the fire. The media and government went crazy for it as investigations were conducted and conspiracies cropped up, but none can confirm nor find the culprit. Seeing the Japanese Assassin alive and that Matt is still safe and sound has brought a lot of relief for the drummer.  
  
The peacefulness and calm of the environment of the garden seems like a fitting place to be after all that has happened.  
  
“We’re not going somewhere more private for this, Corvo?” Dom asks, mimicking the other’s moves in slicing a snack down into smaller pieces with a bamboo fork before eating it.  
  
“The garden is well secured despite your doubts. It’s good enough as it is.”  
  
“No going into the office or anything of the like?”  
  
“Nope. Just enjoying tea like this is what I would rather have right now,” Corvo says, looking relaxed and calm.  
  
“So it’s all over then?” Dom smiles, leaning back against the chair. “No more bad men sent to go after Matt?”  
  
“Somewhat.”  
  
Dom raises an eyebrow at the other’s uneasy answer before Corvo continues.  
  
“We’ve destroyed all the evidence to his genetic links of his distant ancestors. I can send some Assassins to keep an eye out on him for some time, probably some as the band’s bodyguards, until Abstergo no longer show signs they’re interested in pursuing the matter. That should help ease some stress off of you. But even then, we can’t be sure that Abstergo has forgotten it if they decide to bring it up again,” Corvo sighs, poking down at the soft mochi and syrup.  
  
Dom nods in understanding, although still feeling grim at the answer. Corvo then pulls something wrapped in a cloth out of the desk and puts it on top of the desk. Unwrapping it reveals a crystalline cube, with a drop of blood in the middle of it, as though the red liquid is floating inside the crystal itself.  
  
“A little momento, close to heart,” the Assassin pushes the blood vial towards Dom, who looks at it with some disgust, but he accepts the gift nonetheless.  
  
“It’s a little morbid,” he comments, holding the cube in his hand, turning it around and letting the light reflect through it.  
  
“They all are when you pick it off of dead people,” Corvo deadpans. Dom decides to not say anything further for he is already weirded out by the crystal cube with Matt’s blood in it.  
  
“So you saved Matt, but we’ll still not be safe from Abstergo?” Dom asks quietly, looking down at the blood vial.  
  
“You’re safer with us watching over you, but no less vulnerable at the end of the day.”  
  
They consume their snack and tea in silence, with the occasional glance towards the garden to appreciate the view. The careful placement of stones and shrubbery on the garden gave the appearance of serenity. Whatever is happening beyond the tea garden was none of their business. The calmness of their surroundings provides them the time and space to reflect what is going through their minds. The extent of realising that even after what has happened in the past weeks or so will never leave them behind has been acknowledged without another word left to say for either of them.  
  
Matt is safe thanks to himself, Corvo, and the Assassins. But for how long will he be safe without the Assassins? They don’t have a safety net as far as Dom has seen until Corvo came along.  
  
Moreover, he took up the time to think about his decision. After what happened, there is anger burning inside Dom. It is not one of realising how they all have been duped and almost got Matt caught. It is one where he realises how close he is to losing his best friend so easily; one where he had to reach out for help; one where he keeps thinking of how little he has done when he could’ve done more to protect Matt and the others. His anger lies on the frustration of his helplessness even when he tries his best, he couldn’t do enough to protect those that he cared.  
  
And one that has him decided what he needs to do next.  
  
“So if I join that brotherhood of yours, can I protect him then?” Dom asks, breaking the silence.  
  
Corvo blinks, looking up from his small plate of confectionary and towards the blond in surprise.  
  
“Pardon?”  
  
“Will you let me join the Assassins and teach me what you do if it means protecting my best friends?” This time, Dom says it with a firmer tone in his voice, and looked serious.  
  
“You’ve been thinking about for quite a while, eh?” Corvo asks quietly, staring at Dom first and then down at the cup in his hand. “You do realise that you don’t have to--”  
  
Dom interrupts him by offering an explanation.  
  
“I want-- No,  _need_  to protect him. I can’t just rely on others to do that and think that he’s going to be alright like that. I’ve been thinking for some time, Corvo,” he says. “I’ve been thinking that it would be a better choice that I join the Assassins and learn how to protect him much better. I got nothing left if I lose him,” Dom argues. “Hell, there’s nothing left for Muse without Matt.”  
  
The Assassin stares at the blond, scrutinizing the man with an intensity that would make many flinch and look away. Dom, on the other hand, stares right back with no hint of nervousness whatsoever. That, Corvo thinks, is commendable on Dom’s part to be able withstand his piercing stare. It’s a big difference compared to the last time that he did this to the drummer.  
  
“Normally, you would be better off not joining. But considering the circumstances, and how I’ve seen that you got far more than a knack than I expect, and how much I told you about our existence...“ Corvo tapers off, then sighing with reluctance as he pours more tea into their cups, whilst Dom’s smile turns into a smug one.  _So he thinks he has willingly fallen into the rabbit hole,_ the Assassin quietly reflected _._  
  
“Normally this would mean that I have to kill you.”  
  
Dom chokes on his tea.  
  
“But since you’re willing to join and you aren’t a bad person, I suppose that I can stay here to train you,” he continues, trying to put off from grinning as he watches Dom wipe his mouth with his forearm. Just because Dom was able to withstand his intense stare and not flinch this time doesn’t mean that the Assassin would not find another method to amuse himself with.  
  
“It’s my decision to join.”  
  
Corvo chuckles under his breath and shakes his head.  
  
“Many of those who joined the Assassins like me didn’t have as much of a choice as it is a path that must be taken,” Corvo muses. “Makes you wonder whether did you choose it in the first place or it is meant to happen.”  
  
“Maybe it’s both.”  
  
Maybe it is, the Assassin agrees inwardly. But then, Corvo thinks, it doesn’t hurt to have another to be recruited under his care and training. He just needs to be sure that they can take the transition well and help guide them.  
  
Yet, something is far more certain to happen unless he can be sure of one thing...  
  
Corvo’s face turns serious as he gives a sharp look at Dom. “Are you certain that you think you want to take this path, Dominic? This path that you wish to take is filled with tragedy. The choices that you make can cause tragedy in itself. We kill because we think it’s necessary or for some greater good. There is no glory in what we do when you have blood spilled on your hands. We’re not the ideal good guys or anything like that.”  
  
The Assassin eyes at the blond, assessing his facial expression and gauge his emotions and thoughts. He wants to know whether or not will the drummer back out of this. What he doesn’t want is someone who gives up easily, or one that eventually turn against them.  
  
“Are you sure that, in wanting to protect your loved ones, that you choose to join us?”  
  
The next thing that happened, is one that gives Corvo a surprise.  
  
“Yes,” Dom answers in a serious tone. “I’ve already made my decision, and I am not going to back out of it.”  
  
The Assassin’s lips curled upwards into a grin. He holds out a hand for Dom to shake.  
  
“Welcome to the Brotherhood of Assassins, Dominic Howard.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dom gets to meet Poppy! And suck at the first lessons of freerunning! And almost got caught! :D

The Underground train is one of the places where you can be alone amongst many. A lot of people are in the coaches, but within their own isolated places. Disturbing another stranger is the unspoken rude manner that should not be done. It’s in this case of ignorance that no one would have paid heed to a blond man squirming in his seat, eyes shifting between the Underground map and on an Asian man. It may have been that he is following around a musician/Assassin that he barely knew that well after only meeting him four times so far that is taking him to somewhere after tea in a Japanese tea garden made him felt like this, or it was the fact that he finally took the step towards what he wants to do that is actually happening right now.  
  
Corvo is sitting right next to him, with his eyes closed and listening to music from his iPod. Dom couldn’t really ask where they are going. A few times he spotted Corvo almost snoozing. Every time he takes the decision and is going to wake him up, Corvo sits up at a right time and tells him that they need to change lines on the next station that they are arriving.  
  
“Are you sure you know where we’re going?” he asked once.  
  
“You think that I’m going to bring you to somewhere we’re not supposed to be?” Corvo retorts, yawning as he stood up and signal to Dom that they have to get off again. When they switched to yet another line by the third time, the drummer stops wondering and simply trusts Corvo in wherever they are going.  
  
Judging from the changes between different lines that is going up to North London, Dom assumes that Corvo is bringing him to a familiar place.  
  
He is right.  
  
After about 10 minutes’ walk from down the station, they are back in the very first tea house that Corvo has invited him over to. The shop is closed now with but a few remaining staffs cleaning up. When Corvo unlocks the door with a key and walks in with Dom in tow, they don’t bother them, letting them continue their way to the office room as they close up the shop.  
  
“The tea houses are one of the several safe houses that I use. Most of them are owned or used by others that I trust, but I have shares and access to use them any time I please,” Corvo explains once they are within the safe confines of the office, with a hint of pride in it. “I run a legitimate business here to keep some eyes off.”  
  
“Have you ever tried venturing into something other than teahouses? Like pubs?”  
  
“I did tried a couple of times. But then Wetherspoons kept intervening by throwing money at failing pubs,” the younger man scoffs, and leaves it at that.  
  
“So this is the hideout?” Dom asks, his eyes glancing around the room. There’s nothing about the small office that he’d been here before that screams hideout or anything. It’s just a plain old private office by any appearance.  
  
“Oh no, this is just an office for business matters. This,” Corvo goes towards one of the bookshelves and pulls a book, the bookshelf giving away as a secret door, “is where we are going.”  
  
Within the hidden walls, there is a spiral staircase that leads downstairs reminds Dom of an actual secret hideout route.  
  
“Sorry about taking the stairs,” Corvo says during the walk down into the underground below, the only light sources are the dim emergency lights on the staircase. “We could’ve taken the lift instead, but there were staff members there, and only a few of them are aware of what’s down here.”  
  
It takes them about a few exhaustive minutes before they touched ground again. Darkness is all that can be seen beyond the door that Corvo opened. The only source of light are the lights from the staircase, and even that is not enough to help see what is from the distance of the dark underground.  
  
“Huh,” Corvo startles Dom, looking at the dark void with a straight face. “I thought someone else would be using this place at the moment. Well, good thing that they always remembers the policy to turn off the lights.”  
  
“What is this place?” Dom asks, dumbstruck at just how dark it is.  
  
“This is one of the few places large enough to house a hidden sanctuary,” Corvo flips a large switch and white, industrial lighting brightens the area up one by one, revealing a large tunnel. “And a lot more.”  
  
There were once plans for a new line for the Underground decades ago, as Corvo explains. It was scrapped and hidden away from the public when the budget didn’t come around to complete the project and parts of it were salvaged for other uses. This particular section of the concrete tunnels was left unused as an abandoned station and by chance, it was right underneath the very tea house that Corvo bought. It was deep enough that no satellite or tracking radars can reach in, thus making it a perfect place to create a sanctuary of sorts here.  
  
Dominic nods, too much in awe at the size and of the design of the hideout as the lights reveal just how big the whole place is. A secret hideout underneath a mundane looking tea room. Matt would be head over heels by something like this.  
  
The main tunnel is huge. Granted, Dom had seen what the Underground is like, but strip away the people, the signs, the rail tracks, and the functions of an underground subway station, and it is a bare, concrete tunnel. Instead now the large, main tunnel is where the training grounds is, and the smaller tunnels by the sides where the trains would come and go are smaller rooms.  
  
A lot of extensive work was done in the tunnels. Within the smaller tunnels where the trains could’ve arrived along the long pits were covered over by thick, tempered glass. Fluorescent lights illuminates the rooms from under the glass floor. Cables, large and small, run throughout the whole tunnels by the sides.  
  
The only place that has the floor covered completely in concrete was the indoor shooting range, the first room that Corvo shows to Dom. The furthest target is only twenty five meters away, but the fact that something like this can be fitted into an underground hideout is impressive no less.  
  
“It’s also connected to the armoury room right next to us behind the wall,” he adds, and shows it to Dom right after. The walls and racks are filled with various weapons, from handguns and knives, to more powerful weapons such as sniper rifles and LMGs, and to old weapons such as swords and bows and arrows. By the corner of the room sits a working table with tools on the wall for repairing weapons. The armoury that the Assassins possess here would have made even the MI6 impressed.  
  
Then he shows Dom a small room with cots and bunker beds in there with a bathroom nearby, located in the tunnel other side of the armoury. “Sometimes I do my work here late into the night that I sleep here instead of going back home or some who are going dark stay here for some time, so I put some beds here just in case.”  
  
The next room he shows is not as fancy as the other rooms are. It looks like a storage room for props and discarded costumes if it wasn’t the fact that they are not in a backstage theatre.  
  
“The others call it the Artefact Room, but it’s a bit sparse on the subject itself,” Corvo says, his hand sweeping through what should’ve really been a storage room for what he could’ve called it. The room itself was just wooden crates and a few tables filled with miscellaneous items.  
  
“What is that?” Dom points at the blue coat uniform, the only item in the room that is unique so far. It looks similar to a dress uniform with its golden linings, a red sash that is partially covered by a large utility belt, a steel gorget, and chainmail on the shoulder coat. If anything, it stood out for Dom to notice only because it is literally standing out in the room and is hanging on a wooden cross.  
  
“It’s a coat uniform,” Corvo replies sarcastically. “Victorian era. And it’s a family heirloom of mine.”  
  
“Okay?” Dominic thinks that he should ask the Assassin about it since it’s a subject that he doesn’t know yet, but lets it go for now. The fact that Corvo has a single green eye on the left side of face is more than telling of what his ancestors might be.  
  
What Corvo shows next subsequently were the computer room, a private library, and several escape routes along the tunnels. Next to the steel reinforced door where they came out from the staircase is another similar door that leads to a small lift that is connected up to the basement of the tearoom.  
  
“And that is pretty much it of the tour around this hideout, really,” Corvo announces once the short tour around the underground hideout is done and they are back in the main tunnel. “Any questions?”  
  
The first question that Dom asks is, “So this is where you’re going to train me on how to kill?”  
  
“Well, you’re half right,” the Assassin admits. “I  _am_  going to train you, but not necessarily only on killing. Being an Assassin doesn’t mean that killing people is the answer to every problem and threats, even if it is what almost everyone thinks of it that name nowadays.”  
  
“So you still learn how to kill people,” Dom deadpans.  
  
Corvo frowns. “Dominic, the last thing that  _you_  would want to do is to actually kill them. I only kill when all the other options such like diplomacy, guile and hell, even fighting have failed. Unfortunately, not many of my brothers and sisters can agree with that. Some of them even have that mentality that murder is the first and best solution.”  
  
Corvo’s train of conversation with Dom was abruptly cut off by a sound. They can hear the sounds of a door being opened, and a pair of heels clicking on the concrete floor.  
  
“I was wondering if you came by down here when I couldn’t pick up your phone signal,” a sultry female voice calls out. Corvo turns around and smiles as a dark skinned woman approaches the two men, looking absolutely stunning in Dom’s eyes.  
  
“Dominic, this is Poppy,” Corvo introduces the blond to her, after greeting her with a hug and kiss. “She’s my right hand man and does everything I do when I’m not in London, or in Europe in general.”  
  
“Pleasure to meet you, Poppy,” Dom smiles, shaking Poppy’s hand as an aura of confidence and charm that is second nature to him shows out.  
  
“Only less than a minute and he is charming me off,” Poppy smiles, greeting him back warmly. “I’ve heard that you have decided to join our brotherhood. Welcome to the Assassins, Dominic.”  
  
“Of course, you came in with barely any abilities but your determination itself, so we’ve got a  _lot_  to do,” Corvo tosses Dom a wooden sword. “First of all, I need to check what you need to learn.”  
  
Less than three minutes later, he concludes to a now defeated Dom, left sprawled out on the ground, that he needs to learn "everything that an Assassin should do”. So much for trying to charm Poppy ever again.

\-----

  
Training started almost immediately. Dom woke up early before dawn and dragged himself to meet Corvo outside the teahouse. His first training ground is nearby rather than the one underground. If they have to start training Dom as an initiate to the brotherhood, the best way is to start as soon as possible and get the basics hammered down on him.  
  
The playground is a ridiculous place to learn freerunning first, but as Corvo had reminded him before, everyone starts out at the basics first. And because it’s more than obvious that Dom has to a lot to cover in terms of it. The first thing that Corvo has covered out on what he needs to learn is how to use the environment around them.  
  
“Everyone thinks that the French imitated it by observing some tribes that did it in Africa,” Corvo explains about freerunning. “In reality, we have been doing it long before it was even written down. Its origins are older than human history itself. You need to learn how to run before you learn how to fight.  
  
“There were several factions that were just as capable in navigating their landscape, but freerunning has always been primarily utilized by the Assassins, and a vital asset when it comes to doing our job in assassinations.”  
  
Dom shudders on hearing the last word coming out of Corvo’s mouth. He knows that to the Assassins, they are defined by the fact their purpose is to murder people. He knows that someday in the future, he has to take up arms to fight and to kill.  
  
For now, he concentrates on learning freerunning, another act that defines the Assassins themselves.  
  
Corvo starts the whole lesson by showing the drummer a demonstration of what it is like to do the basic techniques such as vaulting over benches and sliding under swing sets as obstacles.  
  
Then he shows Dom how to jump from the decorative rocks towards a nearby large tree, climbing up and sitting on a thick branch, all without touching the ground. It was basically playing and pretending that the floor is lava, for adults.  
  
The final thing that he shows that he tells Dom is “a very essential lesson to learn because you’re going to fall a lot” no matter if one is new to it or well experienced is how to take a fall without injuring himself. Standing on the branch with his knees bent, Corvo leaps off from it and lands on the grass feet first, doing a diagonal roll and standing up again.  
  
“It looks easy on me but it won’t be for you,” Corvo warns once before it is Dom’s turn to try out.  
  
Dom laughed it off and scoffed at it at first. That is right until he got injured on his first try in attempting to vault over the bench. So that explains why the Assassin had brought along a first aid kit with him.  
  
And why Corvo is laughing at him while he cleans and patches his arm up.  
  
They finished two hours later, with more cuts and bruises on his body than having a guitar thrown at him on a repeated basis. It was no laughing matter on just how hard it is to do all that. At least the Assassin has provided him advice and tips on what type of workout and exercises can help him improve.  
  
“You’ll get good at it soon,” Corvo assures him, patting the drummer’s shoulder. He smartly pulls his hand away when Dom winces. “And maybe get hurt less from it.”

\-----

  
If there is ever the fact that there are some secrets that are not meant to be known by the others, his new secret life would be one of them. The fact that it got accidentally uncovered by someone who knows Dom so well inside and out makes it even worse.  
  
Some days he returns to the normal life with bruises on him, black and blue marks painted on his body from the falls that he takes in jumping over, sliding under, and quintessentially, falling. He learns to hide it. Although summer is not yet at its end, he still does a good job in hiding them either with long sleeves or a lot of foundation. No matter how hard he tries though, the bruises sometimes can show through, and that brought unintentional results and attention towards it.  
  
This was one when Matt invited himself over to his place for a jam session, wine, chatting, and maybe some very intimate bonding between the two of them that involves Matt latching onto him while watching the telly and cuddling. The latter was the cause of raising Matt’s suspicions when one such touch on his chest caused Dom to flinch in pain and back away from the brunet.  
  
He should’ve endured the pain and pretended that everything was fine, because having Matt tackle him down and roughhousing him until he pulls his shirt up was the least wanted objective that Dom wanted tonight.  
  
Matt stared, stared, and stared in shock at the purple and black bruises on his arms, legs, and chest.  
  
“Matthew?” Dom murmurs, finding Matt’s frozen stare getting gradually uncomfortable to be subjected to.  
  
“Has someone been hurting you, Dom?” Matt looks at him, an intense blue gaze that unsettles Dom. Fuck, already a few days into joining the Assassins and he is already in trouble. He feels bad for not telling them what’s going on, but at the same time he is aware that lying to Matt is going to make the brunet more suspicious.  
  
But it’s not like he isn’t going to try as he answers, “No.”  
  
“Don’t try to lie to me, Dominic,” Matt growls, fury already showing in his eyes. “I’m serious. Did somebody that you know hurt you?”  
  
“Matt, no! No!” Dom quickly starts to explain. “It’s actually a new training regimen that I took up recently. Ever heard of parkour?” Dom gives Matt his million dollar smile. Matt hasn’t lashed out yet, so it’s a good start. He’s not lying about the parkour lessons, so Matt doesn’t have to know the whole truth behind  _why_.  
  
“Is it that thing that some guys climb walls and leap about and do those sick flips that’s been popular in France and worldwide?” Matt asks, his eyebrow raised.  
  
“Yeah, figured that I’ll look pretty cool in doing that, right?” Dom says, keeping an aloof appearance to make- no, force Matt to believe it. “Just starting out at the basics first before I become cooler.”  
  
Matt stared at him a while longer until his lips cracked into a grin, and he starts giggling. The giggling then erupted into full blown laughter.  
  
“You can’t even walk the platform on Wembley without tripping, Dommy!” Matt laughs and slaps his knee over and over, bringing back up a three year old incident. But it brings Dom relief that he had gotten away with it. Somewhat.  
  
“Well, it’s time that I get over that and take my body seriously if I want to maintain my shape,” Dom chuckled, shrugging. “Practice will give me less bruises eventually.”  
  
“You should teach me that someday,” Matt says, a grin on his face after laughing into exhaustion as things fall back to normal between him and Dom. But Dom is no fool when it comes to Matt. He can see how his posture still has some rigidness to it.  
  
Matt leans in to kiss on one of the bruises on his arm, worried that his hunch was more right than Dom’s, despite the blond having claimed that no one had hurt him but himself. It was also a silent warning to Dom to not do something so reckless and hurt himself in the process of it.  
  
“When I get bitten by a radioactive spider and have super powers, then I will,” Dom grins, stroking Matt’s hair. If things are to be alright, then he has to show it. Someday he will find a way to tell Matt the full truth, but now is not the right time when he’d just started out on training to become an Assassin for a bigger purpose.  
  
Matt proceeds to poke at one of the purple bruises.  
  
“Wanker.”

\-----

  
After two weeks of teaching him the basics in freerunning, Corvo has gone home for Tokyo, citing that he had stayed for too long and needed to be back there because he had ‘actual things like touring and recording to do’. He leaves Dominic in the trusting hands of Poppy to continue to train him on his absence.  
  
Poppy is immediately someone that Dom likes as a teacher. She is patient with him even as he struggles to properly vault over or slide under tables and benches in various methods. With careful guidance, she shows him the mistakes that he’d done from his moves. With encouragement, Dom has markedly shown improvement.  
  
After getting a hang of vaulting, sliding and jumping around, Poppy brings him to a gym and guides him to the climbing wall.  
  
“Corvo is going to make you scale buildings whether you like it or not,” she warns him as she helps him put climbing gear on. “It’s better to learn how to use your arms and legs now before he springs it on you by surprise.”  
  
To watch Poppy scale the wall up with ease without any safety gear whatsoever was an impressive sight to see, practically showcasing to Dom and those who bother to watch to see what free climbing is.  
  
To use his arms and legs and pull himself up was tiring work. He does a lot of workout with his arms and legs for drumming, and yet it didn’t hold much strength and endurance for the requirement of scaling up walls or vaulting and sliding through tables, much less to climb with safety gear on.  
  
It takes time and patience and determination, but it pays off once he was able to go through the obstacles without falling or stopping until he reached the end. He does it a few more times throughout the week until he could get through various obstacles even if their positions are shifted. And he is learning how to climb up the climbing wall with hopes that he can eventually shed the gear to climb without it.  
  
The problem with repetitive activities done over and over almost frequently is that eventually, even he himself will get sick of it. In other words, it was getting awfully boring training like this for nearly a month.  
  
“Why don’t we take a walk outside? The sun is shining, and it’s a waste of time spending it down here,” Poppy suggests one fine day when she pops in the tunnels where Dom has been for the past hour. It wasn’t much of a suggestion as she is already dressed and ready to go outside, so Dominic simply chooses what is obviously expected and follows her to the lift.  
  
It isn’t the season for the weather to turn cold all day nor the leaves to turn colour and fall yet. But much like last year, the frigid cold starts to hit them hard less than a few weeks since the summer heat, causing Dom to zip up his hoodie. Poppy, despite her bald head, is not bothered by the temperature, looking warm and comfortable in her mink coat and hat.  
  
“You needed company?” Dom asks, rubbing his hands together.  
  
“No, today I am going to teach you some new tricks that you should learn.”  
  
Dom looks at her through the sunglasses with curiosity. Not that he doubts her aptitude in teaching him. It is that so far in what he’d been learning, a lot of them are too conspicuous for use. It’s cool and all to learn freerunning, but even has his doubts that he can use it that often.  
  
“Freerunning is not all that Assassins do. It is important to remember that we are assassins, not ninjas,” she starts. “Stealth is emphasized when you are being watch out for and can’t escape without picking up attention. The trick is that you can be looked at, but not seen.”  
  
“You mean being hidden in plain sight?” Dom asks. That actually sounds more fitting for what they do.  
  
"Exactly, Dominic."  
  
She demonstrates what being ‘hidden in plain sight’ means by casually walking into a crowd, with Dom following from behind. After a few minutes of walking and trying not to push past the crowd, he looks at where Poppy is, only to realise that she is no longer in front of him. Did he lost her or did she walked faster than her high heels made it possible?  
  
“Pay attention, Dominic,” Poppy startles him by tapping his shoulder, revealing that she has been behind him all along. “When done right, it can be hard to be seen unless one has well-trained eyes.”  
  
Dom asks a sensible question. “But what happens if some fans spot me while I have to hide?”  
  
“Then take advantage of it,” she answers coolly. “If guards cannot spot you in a crowd without paying attention, then what is of a celebrity with their fans any different?”  
  
He has a lot to learn from the two of them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On tonight's chapter: Corvo cooks, Dom gets beaten up, and Hendrix is well-fed! :D

Dom checks the time on his watch as he toss a couple of green bell peppers into the trolley, confirming to himself that he still has a lot of time left to finish his grocery shopping before returning home. Corvo’s arrival will be around the evening before nine from the airport. When Corvo called him a week ago, he informed the drummer that he is coming and staying in Nice to continue to teach and train Dom, to see to it that he can use his skills and training to navigate the urban landscape, and to learn combat fighting.  
  
Fortunately, the rain has started to weaken by the time he has arrived home from the supermarket, so he didn’t need the umbrella and take trips to bring the bags from the car to the door. Pulling the keys out, he slots it into the keyhole and turns. He finds to his surprise that there was no familiar click and the door is already unlocked.  
  
Odd. He clearly remembered that he had locked the door before leaving the house.  
  
His mind went straight into the conclusion that his house was broken in, and the burglar had left already. Quickly leaving his groceries at the door, he checks for whether if his house was trashed, if expensive equipment were stolen, if Hendrix is alright.  
  
Corvo’s appearance in Dom's house is less than welcome, however. If less than welcome means almost getting a shock that can give Dom a heart attack upon coming home to see Corvo cooking in the kitchen.  
  
“What the fuck?!” Dom jumps back.  
  
“Good evening, Dominic,” Corvo greets.  
  
"How the fuck did you get in?!" Dom exclaims, almost dropping the lamp that he’d picked up in the hallway in his hands.  
  
"Your door was unlocked," the taller man answers in a nonchalant manner, stirring something in the saucepan.  
  
"I locked them before I left!"  
  
"It was easy to lock pick the door to get in,” Corvo remains casual and still not looking at Dom, as though breaking into somebody’s house is something he does usually. “Any door is unlockable to me so long as I know my way around. Which, by the way, remind me to teach you lockpicking too. It might come in handy when you lose your keys.”  
  
“You could’ve just waited outside!” Dom is still shouting.  
  
“And stay there when it’s raining and cold?” Corvo finally looks up in surprise. “Are you  _mad_? Leaving your guest outside like that? I could get sick!”  
  
“And a guest doesn’t just intrude someone’s home and take their food to cook in the kitchen!”  
  
“I only took the herbs and spices from your spice rack. The rest were bought from the market,” Corvo says, tasting the sauce and humming in approval. “Now would you calm down, Dominic? I don’t think it’s healthy for you to keep shouting over me staying at your home for a few weeks. I  _am_  cooking our meals, after all.”  
  
Dom slackens his shoulders and sighs in defeat, trudging away to pick up the groceries that he had left behind at the front door. Corvo is just as stubborn, if not worse, as Matt is. When he returns to the kitchen with the bags in toll, he asks, “What are you making?”  
  
“The peppercorn sauce for the  _steak au poivre_ ,  _avec légumes grillés d'hiver et pommes de terre rôties comme plats d'accompagnement_. The wine paired for the dish will be  _Syrah-Grenache, Coteaux de Bessilles, Domaine Félines-Jourdan_ 2009.”  
  
Dom blinks.  
  
“You can speak French?” Dom asks, more than surprised at how fluent those words came out of the Japanese Assassin’s lips just from saying out loud the food and wine that are going to be served for dinner.  
  
“Among many others,” Corvo answers with a nonchalant shrug.  
  
Dom thinks about what he has to do with this situation that he is in right now.  
  
On one hand, he has more than enough reasons to kick Corvo out of his house for breaking in. On the other hand, he is making dinner with steak in it. And he is here to continue Dom’s training for the next few weeks of free time that he has in France.  
  
“At least I’m not letting you sleep on the sofa.”  
  
“No worries,” Corvo says cheerfully. “I’ve already unpacked and got my clothes on to the wardrobe in the guest room.”  
  
“Of course you already did it,” Dom mutters dryly to himself, rubbing his face. He had planned on changing the sheets before Corvo’s arrival, but now that seems to be an irrelevant task. And why of all things was he thinking about changing bedsheets?  
  
“Now how would you like your steak to be done?” Corvo asks, already putting the filet mignon on the hot pan and scooping some butter to join the sizzling meat.  
  
Dom wants to stay mad and frustrated, but it’s hard to do so when someone cooks him steak and it is done the way he loves it.

\-----

  
Before dawn breaks, Corvo has woken him up to start traversing the city. Although navigating through the city at night has dangers of its own, the dark night notwithstanding, it is one of the only ways that they can do freerunning without the pesky eyes of people watching. It is a good thing that they came outside under the full moon, providing them more than sufficient light to see their surroundings.  
  
He isn’t sure which is more tiring: the training regimen that he’d been doing so far or following Corvo. Unlike a training regimen when he has certain quotas to reach in running and climbing in order to build his body and muscle memory into knowing how to do it, following Corvo is actual learning on how to put his training to practical use.  
  
At any one point, the Assassin would suddenly change directions. One moment, he and Dom are walking, and then the next thing Dom knows, Corvo is running towards a building, running up the wall and grabbing onto a beam or obstacles of a wall, scaling the building by climbing, navigating around the structure or even leap up while climbing till he reached the rooftop.  
  
It all seems like erratic movements without thinking, but it is the exact opposite. When Dom pays attention to it, he notices the little details that could be missed. Such as how when Corvo’s head turns, his eyes are quick to scan the environment and landscape before quickly finding and taking shortest routes to reach his destination, to find grab points for his hands and feet to grab and climb on, to run and jump at the right time and distance to reach the next location, and to land on the right angle and time without hurting himself. This works even when they’re on the move, having to follow Corvo from behind.  
  
He tries to mimic how the other does it, wanting to be able to do the same as the mentor. It was difficult to do so in having to be quick to check his environment and think on which is the best way for him to move on, especially when he has to include running, climbing and leaping around. There are a few times in which he almost fell off, only to be saved from heavy injuries or even worse outcomes by Corvo in a nick of time.  
  
“One step at a time, novice,” he teases. That word has been cropping up a few times ever since that Dom has started his training with the Master Assassin.  
  
It is then that Dom notices where they are going.  
  
The Saint-François tower. [1]  
  
He eyes at the tower warily, not sure if he can already have the strength and skills (and confidence) to climb it. He couldn’t voice his doubts in time, because Corvo is already climbing up the building, not looking back at Dom. He expects the blond to do it, and eventually with reluctance, he does so.  
  
Dom does his best to follow what he’d learnt. Find anything that he can grab a hold onto. Find ways around the foundation, just as long as it can lead to where he needs to go.  
  
Looking up, he is astonished to see that Corvo is already getting close to the top with ease. Unlike Dom, he is a lot faster, his moves are smoother and acrobatic. It’s as though Corvo is a cross between a cat and a monkey, and Dom never thinks that such a combination is possible, but there it is.  
  
Dom pants as he continues his way up, the muscles in his body starting to feel sore. Usually, when he’s drumming, he can take a break and have some water before taking the cue to continue. This is different. Out of curiosity or stupidity or both, Dom takes a peek down, and that is a horrible mistake.  
  
For the first time in doing freerunning, he freezes, unable to decide what to do next. His arms and legs are aching, and it doesn’t seem like he can climb up any further with his energy sapped away. Take the risk in leaping up and grab onto something, or just stay in place and wait for help?  
  
“Corvo, what do I do next?” Dom asks, his voice stuttering and fear is clearly evident. From the top of the tower, Corvo looks at the drummer who is frozen to the walls with an unreadable expression. Without hesitation, he answers to Dom.  
  
“I’ll be honest. You’re more than five storeys above the ground, and from where you are, your choice is to keep climbing up to the top, or fall and die. Either way, you can’t stay there for long. You better decide what you need to do next.”  
  
For many of the times that he thought he’d done well, it hits Dom hard when he realises that he can’t always rely on Corvo, or anyone, in this situation to be there to save him. He has to save himself.  
  
With a few deep breaths, he keeps climbing up. Looking back at it, he couldn’t believe how his movements can look smooth. All he can think about is  _‘reach to the top, reach to the top, reach to the top_ ’--  
  
“Need a hand, novice?” he blinks, looking up to see Corvo’s hand being offered out to him. Only then did Dom realised that he has reached up to the top. After getting pulled up, Dom sat down in exhaustion, feeling as though all his energy was expended on climbing up the tower alone than running and climbing around places.  
  
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Corvo murmurs, sitting down next to him as they watch the sun rise, a multitude of colours changing the skies. After taking the effort to run and climb up to the top of the tower, he has to admit, the view of a sunrise was really rewarding.  
  
He hopes that he knows his way in getting down from the tower.

\-----

  
Dom has decided while lying on top of a cushioned floor mat that he hates combat training.  
  
He is okay with freerunning because that’s what he has been doing for a while. Hand-to-hand combat and martial arts on the other hand makes him look pathetic. It’s sad to say that all the jokes about him being horrible in a fight thrown at him by the others speak a level of truth to it.  
  
Training in a gym late at night where there are barely any living souls aside from the receptionist and the two of them, it gives them plenty of freedom to do a sparring match. Although it is more to accurate to say that Dom is getting beaten up and in no way capable of striking an attack at the Assassin without encountering a dodge or a counter attack that ends up with Dom on the floor. How many times did he fell or got flipped over the half hour so far, he lost count.  
  
The Japanese Assassin may not depict the image of that of a… well,  _deadly_  Assassin with the lean and wiry appearance he has with an ectomorphic body. But looks are deceiving, because Corvo has more than shown that he packs the agility to dodge and swerve, and the surprising strength to put bigger men on the floor.  
  
“Aren’t you tired of getting beaten by now, Dominic?” Corvo nonchalantly asks while keeping an eye.  
  
When the blond thinks that he gets the upper hand, the younger man sweeps Dom’s feet off the ground with a low sweeping kick that Dom didn’t noticed. Falling down to the well-worn mat on the floor is getting to be repetitive, and irritating to him because no matter how much he tries, he still hasn’t achieved that one challenge given to him.  
  
And they can’t stop until Dom can manage to land one hit on the Assassin, the very criteria that he struggles to reach.  
  
"Come on, back on your feet Dominic. Focus on your opponent's movements."  
  
“I’m trying,” Dom groans, standing up and wincing at the pain on his right arm.  
  
“If you call that ‘trying’, I will be surprised if you managed to get out of a sticky situation alive,” Corvo deadpans. “Your stances are not balanced. The steps are right there to be seen.”  
  
“You’re too fast!”  
  
“Your opponents are not going to give you time to prepare,” Corvo points out. “If they do, they’re making you look pathetic in the eyes of everyone. What you need is to be fast enough to  _know_  what they might do next, not be fast enough to attack them first.”  
  
Dom jumps up and does a tackling grab, only to have Corvo swerve away easily and let Dom’s face meet the floor.  
  
“You almost got me there,” Corvo says in mock surprise while Dom groans in pain.  
  
“Can’t we stop and take a break?” Dom pleads.  
  
“Until you can even hit me, you’re shit out of luck here, Dominic.”  
  
The drummer stands up and gets into a stance, crouching down with his fists positioned in front of him. Keeping an eye on the younger man’s moves and following the advice to heart, he manages to keep on to his feet as his arms took the brunt of the punches thrown at him.  
  
When Corvo took a few steps back, he gives out a harsh laugh. “That’s all you can do by now?”  
  
Dom is getting angry and frustrated as both emotions pile up inside him. Nothing good has yielded for him so far other than to end up on the ground and be told to rise up again over and over. He has to stay, stay cool, stay focus; don’t let the other rile him up…  
  
“If this is what keeps on happening by the end of the hour,” Corvo snorts. “I don’t even know how you can protect yourself, much less protect Matthew as you’ve sworn.”  
  
Dom narrows his eyes, annoyance turning into irk. “Don’t you even go there…”  
  
“So Matthew means nothing to you?” Corvo spat, obviously goading on him. “I wonder what the hell does he look up to you for when you’re pathetic like this. He doesn't mean a damn to you--”  
  
All Dom can see is red, all pretences gone as he runs and throws a hard punch and shouts, “ _SHUT THE FUCK UP!_ ”  
  
Corvo is taken by surprise, his eyes widened as air rushed out of his lungs, and throbbing pain is all over his body from falling down, especially the abdomen. Most importantly his solar plexus. Despite the surprise that he should’ve saw coming after goading him to attack, the blond can pack a punch.  
  
When Dom finally sees what happened and what he just did, he is quickly by the younger man’s side. "Oh shit, are you alright? I'm so sorry! I was mad and then--"  
  
"That was good, Dominic," Corvo gasps, holding his hand up while the other hand is holding onto the waist. "That was a good punch."  
  
He winces in obvious pain when he stands up, leaving Dom feeling even worse for what he’d done. Part of him thinks that the other deserved it for what he’d said, however. They sat down by the nearby bench, each man silent for their own reasons. Corvo is because he needs time before he can talk again. Dom doesn’t know what to say when his anger dies down.  
  
“Spit it out,” Corvo grimaces in pain, finally breaking the silence. “I’d rather know the story now than to let it brew on any longer.”  
  
"It was in Teignmouth, last September," Dominic bites his lips, reminiscences the past. "When he turns around towards me on stage, I looked at him and saw the very reason of our existence. How much we enjoy being in Muse. Most of our life was spent building ourselves up to that moment. I didn't want anything to ruin him, or Chris, or the band. Everything.”  
  
Dom sighs as he stares blankly at the wall. “I wanted to protect something that I cherished so badly… because you made me see just how easy it is that someone can come and take that all away."  
  
Corvo pats his back, then squeezes his shoulder firmly.  
  
"I understand that feeling," he admits. “Love and passion is what drives the determination to overcome many challenges. That is what Altair discovers in raising his family and reforming the Order. What made Ezio fight on when his father and brothers were executed and all he had left were his mother and sister.”  
  
“Is it what also made you who you are today?” Dom turns to look at him.  
  
Corvo nods.  
  
“When we have something to care about and we lose it, that is what hits us the hardest,” Corvo says, showing a wry grin.  “It’s what makes us fight hard to protect it and from ever losing it.”  
  
“Why did you need to know all that?” Dom asks, passing a water bottle over to the Japanese Assassin, his heterochromatic eyes twinkling and his body posture taking a much more relaxed sitting position as the pain ebbs away.  
  
“I want to know and understand those that I recruited well, inside and out,” Corvo pauses to drink. “And in case you stray away, I got that as insurance to pull you back.”  
  
“I hope it doesn’t go anything beyond a fight.”  
  
Corvo mutters under his breath, "You can avoid having to kill, but you can't avoid the confrontation of death."  
  
This time around, Corvo teaches Dom how to dodge his attacks. He still ends up on the floor, but he’s starting to see when to move and avoid some of the punches and kicks. The proudest moment came for the both of them when he rolled over Corvo’s back and successfully dodged an attack.  
  
And no one can take that achievement away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Nice_tour_Saint-Francois.jpg This is the tower that is mentioned of. Looks climbable by Asscreed standards! Please don't go and climb it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On tonight's chapter: The two men have a day off, Corvo speaks to crows, and Dom had phonecalls!

A week into Corvo’s stay in Nice at Dom’s house, he tells the drummer that they have two days of rest before continuing the course of training. Two days off means Dom being able to kick back and relax and catch up on things he’d missed out due to time constraints clashing with Corvo’s training.  
  
If only that was true.  
  
Dom is unaware that there was a routine that they had somehow set up until he woke up on the first day off just as the sun rises, and he blinks and stares at the ceiling until he finds no use to do that and went downstairs. It takes him some time to remember that this would be the time that he is already outside, running and climbing and leaping through buildings on a cold autumn morning.  
  
Five days of waking up early, traversing the city both vertically and horizontally, and hitting the gym had set his body clock to follow the routine. It gets odder when Corvo only woke up and came downstairs at 10AM, his hair messy and sticking up as he pours up a cup of tea.  
  
“Good morning?” Dom greets, weirded out by the sight of Corvo looking like a sleepy mess rather than bright and awake and not like  _this._  
  
“Mornin’,” the younger man mumbles, just close to dozing off while still standing.  
  
“What were you doing last night?” Dom asks.  
  
“Conference call with my band on Skype,” is all that Dom managed to hear through his mumbling words before that was muffled out with an apple to his mouth.  
  
As the day progressed on, Dom is starting to learn that to Corvo, a day off is to see him on the extreme ends of being lazy. The proof to it is that less than four hours since he woke up and did nothing but playing with his laptop, he promptly went back to sleep in the form of a nap.  
  
Meanwhile, Dom does some actual activities. Like playing with Hendrix before the dog goes off to elsewhere. Then it was a phone call with Chris, catching up with the bassist about their daily activities, to which Dom does his best to keep what he’d been actually doing to a bare minimum of going to beaches and working out and living his ‘normal’ life as it is in France. Only the latter two held some grains of truth.  
  
The phone call ended with plans for Chris and his family to come to Nice to spend their Christmas with the drummer, which is a nice change for once to have them come to France rather than him returning to England to celebrate a holiday.  
  
The next phone call is to Matt, and this time Dom can’t help but genuinely smile upon hearing the singer’s voice. He’d thought that having a motor mouth for a singer was something to cope with, but it’s one of the first things that he misses after a while away from the others.  
  
The talk was much… Well, much like what talking to Matt is like. He listens of how the singer’s flat in North London is awfully (and cheesily) lonely without Dom there, the plan for an upcoming Christmas dinner and party in Nice that the brunet enthusiastically agrees to, and what have they been busy in their own lives.  
  
When the subject of what they want to do for the next album popped up, that inevitably led to about half an hour’s worth of Dom’s time spent listening to Matt’s grandiose ideas of the subjects that Dom would need to Google later and find out, like the laws of thermodynamics and the unsustainability of abusing natural resources.  
  
He is a drummer, not a scientist or the likes of it, okay?  
  
It is only after finishing the call with Matt that he decided to check and see if Corvo is still asleep.  
  
A good sunny day while staying at home results in Dom finding the younger man in the living room, lying on the floor with Hendrix, basking in the sunlight and napping comfortably with the dog sleeping next to him. His chestnut dyed hair splayed out on the pillow and with his face appearing more relaxed, Corvo looks a lot younger while asleep without all the lines that appear on his face while awake and active.  
  
Dom would’ve kept looking at the napping human and dog were it not that out of the blue, he sneezed, which causes Corvo to wake up immediately in shock. He looks around quickly before he spots Dom and visibly calmed down.  
  
“You startled me,” Corvo says, laying his head back down on the pillow and breathing loudly through his nose.  
  
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up.”  
  
“No worries. It just spooked me,” the younger man sighs, sitting up as Hendrix tentatively licks his fingers.  
  
“Don’t you want to go back to sleep?” Dom asks, concerned.  
  
“Nah, don’t feel like it now,” Corvo says, waving it off before standing up and stretching his body. “I’ll be in the garden on the back.”  
  
Still concerned for him, the drummer joins the Assassin in the garden a few minutes later, spotting Corvo tossing some food to feed the crows in front of him.  
  
Speaking of crows, there’s also noticeably been a lot of crows in Dom’s backyard lately. He never had any, or noticed them, until Corvo has been staying for a week by now and has been feeding them. There are at least a dozen of those black birds in his garden as of the moment, and it sort of creeps him out.  
  
Looking at those creepy birds, he can’t help but blurt out, “Don’t these crows creep you out for hanging around you?”  
  
“It’s a murder of them.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“The correct term to describe a group of them is a murder of crows. If there are ravens here, that would be a conspiracy,” Corvo explains. “And no, I like having these intelligent, playful corvids around.”  
  
“Okay…”  
  
Then Corvo starts speaking to the crows in French, as though the birds could understand him as they look up at him and responded back in kind by cawing. This first day off is getting weirder and weirder to Dom.  
  
He coughs to get Corvo’s attention before he speaks. “Why are you talking to a bunch of--”  
  
“A  _murder_  of crows, Dominic,” Corvo corrects him for the second time.  
  
He rolls his eyes. “Fine. Why are you talking to a murder of crows in French?”  
  
“Because these are crows that are born in France. Of course you have to speak to them in French,” Corvo answers this to Dom as though this is a logical answer to the obvious of what he was doing.  
  
 _It’s illogical_ , Dom thinks, confused and sensing a migraine coming if he stays there any longer.  
  
“How about we go out and eat later for dinner?” Corvo asks, changing the subject. He throws more grains and nuts for the crows to feed on. “Would be something different rather than cooked meals and takeaways.”  
  
Dom mumbles in a ‘yes’ and takes it as a cue to leave Corvo and his avian friends alone thereafter until dinner.  
  
\-----  
  
On the other hand, when the next day came, Corvo becomes hardworking. And it’s amazing and ridiculous just how much he is. It seems as though he wants to compensate for lazing around at the house all day by doing just about anything and everything. He took advantage of the second day off to go to the farmer’s market early in the morning, returning back with bags full of seasonal produce.  
  
Then, for some inexplicable reason, he fixed up and replaced just about every lightbulb on every lighting place throughout the house. And then raked the garden. And fixed the kitchen sink. All the while, he doesn’t seem to stop being noisy with the sounds of taps and beats and humming.  
  
By the evening, the tapping of his fingers against the counter and any nearby wooden furniture gave Dom more than enough hints of why Corvo seems hyperactive and noisy.  
  
“You know, you can use my music room if you wanted to,” Dom suggests.  
  
The tapping on the wooden table stopped. “Are… Are you sure?” Corvo glances at him, unsure.  
  
“As long as you don’t trash it, I’m fine with it.”  
  
Taking that as a cue of permission, Corvo pretty much locked himself up in Dom’s music room, borrowing a guitar that Matt left there, strumming the guitar to seek those chords and riffs and writing the parts down.  
  
It wasn’t that Dom meant to eavesdrop on Corvo playing around, but the music Corvo was playing left the drummer tapping his fingers against his arm. It seems easier than what Dom has expected to follow along and create a rhythm from it. Usually, he needs Chris to be there to be able to fill out the tracks or else it wasn’t going anywhere.  
  
Finally, he stops resisting and knocks the door. Asking if they can do a jam session together since he is sorely in need to play his drums is a lot easier than expected, as the younger man agreed to it and needed some help and feedback from him too on what he was busy doing.  
  
It is a bit of a challenge to play together, but after a few warm ups with some songs that they are both familiar with from Queen and Rage, they are able to synchronize and it was a lot of fun to do a jam session together.  
  
It was different to playing with Matt which Dom is familiar to knowing the brunet’s tastes which are similar to his, but it was honestly a breath of fresh air that gives Dom some insight into seeing more of what Corvo is like as a musician.  
  
What he noticed is that unlike Matt, Corvo has no problem in singing out loud. It starts out as a hum at first while trying to get the feel of what he is playing, until it turns into lyrics. Dom doesn’t understand what he is singing whenever it runs into a Japanese song, but it sounded rather happy and sad at the same time. It was a while until Dom knows that it was the word ‘melancholic’ that he was searching for to describe whatever Corvo is singing.  
  
During the break that came after a tired but enjoyable jam session, Dom shows him his favourite artists, and in return, Corvo talks about bands that Dom has never heard of the likes of BUCK-TICK, D’ERLANGER, Kagrra, X Japan, and Luna Sea. When Dom admits that he has never even heard of them before, Corvo pulled his iPod out and showed him these unheard of musicians. It does show that Corvo has good taste in music that could rival the bands in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  
  
After some time spent listening to various albums from various bands, Corvo picks up the guitar and starts playing it again. When a new riff came up that seems good to listen to, naturally Dom follows it up with his own beat to compliment what Corvo is playing.  
  
Corvo stops strumming the guitar and signals Dom stop drumming, to which he complies.  
  
“Could you slow down on the tempo?” Corvo requested.  
  
“Sure,” Dom shrugs, following the request. He looks back up at Corvo for feedback, and he finds the younger man in a worryingly shocked state and just... shuts up.  
  
“You alright there?” Dom asks, concerned.  
  
Snapping out of whatever state he was in, Corvo bows in apology. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”  
  
“What for?” Dom’s eyebrows are raised up in surprise at the younger man’s actions. “You were right about slowing down the tempo.”  
  
Hesitant, he answers, “I usually play it to Link first before we work it out and flesh out the music.”  
  
“So what we were playing was new material you were working on?” He’d suspected it as much when the revelation dawned on him. Dom knew from first-hand experience of what it is like to go through the process of creating a new song like this.  
  
“I got too absorbed with it that I’d forgotten that it wasn’t him that I was talking to,” Corvo admits, looking away and scratching the back of his head.  
  
“Miss your mates back home?” Dom asks. The privacy of a person’s private life is considered and upheld as sacrosanct for everyone but the paparazzi. Despite that, this is Corvo here. He knows what Corvo as an Assassin is like. Corvo as a musician on the other hand, seems like a much more sensitive side of him. A much more human side of him.  
  
He wants to know that side of him.  
  
“Yeah,” Corvo nods, pursing his lips. “I’ve been so busy mentoring you that… I missed playing music. Had so many ideas running through my head for the past week. And after talking to my friends, I just wanted to play something.”  
  
Upon hearing that, Dom couldn’t help but smile. If one were not reminded of it, it’s still hard to believe that Corvo is younger than him by a few years, and is not only a pretty damn talented musician, but also a Master Assassin at this age.  
  
“You can use my studio any time you like while you’re staying here,” Dom offers with a reassuring smile. “I’m not that evil to make you stay away from it.”  
  
“Thank you,” Corvo says in earnest. He puts the guitar down and stretches his back. “Well! We’ve been playing for quite a while here, how long have we been here?”  
  
Dom takes a peek at the closed curtains, and incredulously answers, “Errr… hours?”  
  
“I’m going to sleep then,” Corvo yawns. “We’ll continue training where we left off tomorrow morning.”  
  
“Corvo… It’s already daylight,” Dom says, pulling the curtains and pointing out at the rising sun, a ray of light coming through the window.  
  
Corvo gives a glare at said sunlight. “It’s not tomorrow until I wake up,” he declares, then saunters off to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On tonight's chapter: Corvo brings sexy back, Dom is exasperated by anything the mentor does, and the training is at its end!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been holding back on posting the next chapter for like, two reasons. The first was that it was hell to edit through this whole thing. The second was that since not many bother to read the story, I couldn't really find much motivation to post it until now.

The next lesson that came the next day is in the form of bringing Dom to fencing class. By that, it meant learning two lessons at once from Corvo. One by practicing how to fence, the other to teach a subject verbally to Dom of something equally important or more.  
  
“It is important that you must know the tenets of the Assassin's creed,” Corvo speaks to Dom, his face obscured by a mask, sabre held up and ready to strike. “The rules have been broken before, even by the most loyal of Assassins. But we remember it to heart.”  
  
With a single word of “Go!” from Corvo, the match starts.  
  
“Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent,” is the first tenet that Corvo says, parrying Dom’s strike with his sabre. “Never hurt or kill a civilian, especially children. We protect them from those who do harm them, but we must never harm them ourselves.  
  
“Hide in plain sight. We may serve the people,” Corvo pauses as he almost got hit by a thrusting blade towards his mask, taking a few steps back before he advances forward to parry another strike by Dom, keeping an eye on every move the blond takes. He continues, “But we must remain hidden to do what we must do and to keep out of sight from those who are watching for us.”  
  
What Corvo has noticed so far in this duel is that Dom is surprisingly fast, able to dodge and parry any slashes and thrusts almost like he calculated his moves too, and giving back to Corvo with as much vigour in his hits that caused the Japanese Assassin to avoid getting hit on his arms and legs. This has made Corvo realised that he can’t go easy on Dom with a sword fight. This was odd, Corvo thought, considering when he last remembered that Dom was not trained in this when he tried it out on the drummer to find out what he needs to learn and train as his apprentice.  
  
Was it because he caught Dom in a surprise the last time, or is there more to the man that he is mentoring? The Assassin puts that thought in the back burner, choosing to tell the last tenet to Dom.  
  
“And finally, never compromise the Brotherhood,” Corvo punctuated each word, his sabre thrusting and slashing towards Dom’s chest, only to see Dom timing it right to avoid it and swung an attack that he himself barely managed counter it. “Because let’s admit this, traitors are never rewarded nicely for what they’ve done.”  
  
“Above these tenets, is our creed.” Carefully watching his moves and skills, Corvo spots a weak spot and takes the chance to quickly charge and once more thrust his sword forward, and struck it point blank on Dom’s chest. Keeping an eye level at him, he speaks, “Remember this not as a rule, but as a way to observe on what we see, that ‘nothing is true’ and ‘everything is permitted.’”  
  
Dom lowers his sabre down and nods, to which Corvo pulls his sword away.  
  
“First round over,” Corvo declares, pulling his mask off and turning around to get his water bottle. Dom on the other hand doesn’t put his sabre down, opting to strike against Corvo’s back with a thrust while the other is distracted and vulnerable.  
  
Although his chest is protected by a plastic chest protector, Corvo still turns his head and shoots him a ‘ _what the hell’_ look in response.  
  
Dom’s only excuse is that, “I’m not dead yet.”  
  
Instead of being indignant at such a bold move, Corvo has a proud smirk. “Smart move. You’re starting to understand how to fight dirty.”  
  
A couple of hours later, the results of their fencing practice and match tallied up Corvo as the victor, yet the number of times that Dom won is just as surprising. Their marks are just less than 6 points apart.  
  
“Last time I recalled while evaluating you, you didn’t exactly have a knack for fencing,” Corvo notes, looking over the results when Dom finally came out of the showers.  
  
“Maybe things are starting to change around,” Dom answers, sounding brighter than usual.  
  
Once they packed up and are ready to head out, Corvo stops by a notice board and pays attention to several ads pinned to the board. His face brightens up on one of the colourful papers, turning to Dom with a bright grin. “Ohhh, they have a kendo class here. Wanna sign up and learn from it?”  
  
Dom opts to push Corvo out of the door and towards the car. “How about you keep teaching me fencing  _before_  you toss me into another class?”  
  
\-----  
  
Wake up hours before dawn.  
  
Breakfast.  
  
Run and traverse through the city and the countryside.  
  
Martial arts training after dawn.  
  
Break time.  
  
Light lunch.  
  
Go to the gym for fencing lessons of all three types of swords: foil, sabre, and épée.  
  
Combat training.  
  
Go home or go out for dinner.  
  
Free time to do whatever they want.  
  
Shower and then finally bedtime.  
  
This is the routine.  
  
\-----  
  
The sun is still high up during the late afternoon and Corvo calls for a break, tossing the weapon to the ground, with Dom following the same.  
  
It feels mind boggling that they can both relax and take a break after a training match from what was essentially a knife fight, with brass knuckles included. How Corvo manages to bring those weapons here with him or how he procured it, Dom would rather blissfully not know it. If the others were to see what he is doing during his time off, they would have thought that the drummer has gone mad solely because they can’t picture him doing something like this. Yet there it is.  
  
After a few sips of water, Dom pulls a cigarette out and lit it up. When Dom offers one to Corvo, he holds his hand up and shakes his head in refusal.  
  
“Don’t really smoke,” Corvo admits.  
  
Instead of cigarettes for the break, the Japanese Assassin opts for some sweets instead. Unwrapping a bar of chocolate, he breaks them into smaller pieces first before putting one into his mouth.  
  
“Fucking hell, it has been a hot day,” Corvo groans, the heat already got his whole back damp with sweat. Today is one of those days where the temperature is a lot higher than usual, and Corvo is not exactly fond of the warm weather.  
  
“Do you think that it’s a good idea to continue like this?” Dom asks. He agrees with the younger man, as after hours spent outside here, he is sure that he got both a tan and far too much sweat to soak the towel wet.  
  
“Nah, I’m going to go and get a shower,” Corvo announces, standing up. “We’re done for the day with training anyway.”  
  
Dom nods as the Japanese Assassin enters into the house, leaving him alone in the garden. Just him and his cigarette.  
  
Dom follows into the house after stubbing the cigarette on the ground. Since the Assassin has done more than his fair share of cooking for the both of them, and to Hendrix as a treat, so Dom decides to cook for tonight. After all, fair is fair.  
  
After wiping a lot of the sweat off of his face and arms with a wet towel in another bathroom, he goes to the kitchen and thinks about what to cook with the amount of fresh meat and vegetables that there are in the refrigerator. He can hear the water running from upstairs. If he is honest to Corvo, he would’ve told him days ago that he is getting sick of French food. It’s not because it was bad, but rather that Dom is craving for something else other than French food, which the Japanese Assassin is good at cooking.  
  
Dom is not sure of what he wants to cook yet, but he takes out the meat and vegetables, and some dry pasta from the cupboard. If nothing still comes up, he can opt for a pasta dish. Anything goes right when there’s pasta to fix it. After washing the vegetables, he starts chopping them up.  
  
Eventually, he hears Corvo turning the shower off, and chooses to continue chopping the last of the vegetables up. When the sound of footsteps were approaching towards the kitchen and Dom looks up at Corvo busy guzzling down a glass of water, he gets an eyeful of the Japanese Assassin’s back. This is the first time since the Japanese Assassin stayed with him for over a week that Dom actually sees him shirtless.  
  
And it is a hell of a sight to behold.  
  
Although Corvo has a slim figure, the muscles on his body show otherwise. He looks really fit from the years of being an Assassin. Aside from short-sleeved shirts, it is hard to see such a built form that is often hidden by clothes.  
  
The other sight to behold are that of his tattoos.  
  
Dom knows that Corvo has a tattoo judging from the ink that he spotted on the singer’s back neck a few times previously. Now he has a full view of it. The tattoo is literally that of a metallic and realistic looking spine that stretches from the neck down to the bottom, a part of the bottom tattoo obscured by the towel wrapped around his waist. On his shoulders are that of two black birds, a crow and a raven.  
  
He blinks when Corvo snaps his finger several times in front of him, and realised that he didn’t pay attention to what the other was talking to him about and expecting a response from him. Shit, he got distracted from more than an eyeful of an attractive body.  
  
Try as he might, he only managed to respond to him with a dumb “What?”  
  
“I said, what are we having for dinner?” Corvo repeats, looking at Dom incredulously with a raised eyebrow.  
  
“Ummm… stir fry?” Dom answers, trying his best to look away. Okay, look up at his face, Dom thinks.  
  
“I must’ve bored you with French food by now, didn’t I?” Corvo cracks a grin. “You could’ve told me so, and I’ll make something else.”  
  
“It’s all of what you’ve been cooking lately, so I’m making Italian.”  
  
“I thought you said you were preparing stir fry?” Corvo quirks an eyebrow, crossing his arms, looking very much amused.  
  
“I’m still trying to decide,” Dom argues.  
  
“You better decide quickly or else I’m going to take over the kitchen instead while you stay in the living room and watch TV,” Corvo crosses his arms, smirking. “And don’t think that I didn’t know that you were staring at my back. I know it’s a sexy back.”  
  
Dom throws an apple at the younger man as he laughs and leaves the kitchen.  
  
This time, Dom makes sure that Corvo stays in the living room with Hendrix while he sets up an  _Italian_  dinner, the images of the two black birds on the younger man’s body hard to erase from his mind. There was something special about the crow and raven tattoos to draw his attention to it, and not because Corvo has a sexy back.  
  
\-----  
  
Everything sounds so loud.  
  
The sizzling sound of something meeting hot metal. The scrape of metal against metal. The sounds of someone whistling is even irritating to hear.  
  
Why can’t Corvo cook a little more quietly?  
  
Gritting his teeth, Dom sits up on his bed and ruffles his already messy hair. There is no point in continuing to sleep with noises like that, and the younger man is already cooking up their breakfast. He frowns in confusion at the shining gold colour beneath him that doesn’t seem to go away even when he blinks or rubs his eyes. He mentally notes that he might need to have an appointment to get his eyes checked if it doesn’t go away soon.  
  
Thankfully, the colour disappears off by the time he arrives to the kitchen. What is odd about it is that it doesn’t follow his eyesight. It is as though the shining gold colour was stuck to a single location, and it was shaped like a human with arms that are moving.  
  
That was the least of Dom’s concerns as the noises are louder in the kitchen and he groans to get Corvo’s attention.  
  
“Hey Corvo, is it possible that you could cook less noisily the next time?” he murmurs.  
  
“Good morning to you too. Anything wrong with pancakes?” Corvo asks just before he uses a spatula to pick a well done pancake and putting it on a plate.  
  
“No, it’s just,” Dom waves his hand, unable to convey what he is going through. “It’s really loud and I woke up to it,” he rubs his face, circling around his left eye. “I probably need to see a doctor today about my eyes too. Can’t seem to see the colours right this morning.”  
  
Dom had missed the sight of Corvo almost dropping a jug of pancake batter on to the frying pan, the look on Corvo’s face in that of surprise before he quickly turns his focus towards the blond.  
  
“Breakfast will be ready soon. Go and wash up first,” Corvo says, flipping a piece of pancake.  
  
After washing up, he seems to feel a lot better and refreshed, ready for breakfast and the smell of pancakes this time. It’s lucky for Dom that today they don’t have to wake up so early to do freerunning.  
  
The pancakes are served alongside with some fruit and fresh cream. About halfway through devouring his plate down, Corvo starts talking.  
  
“What do you see on this paper?” Corvo asks, holding up a blank piece of paper in front of Dom. There has been paper in the kitchen since Corvo prefers to write lyrics and composition tabs here.  
  
“Nothing. It’s just a piece of paper,” Dom answers, chewing on a piece of strawberry.  
  
“No, really, what do you  _see_  right here?” Corvo asks again, a finger pointing at the still blank piece of paper. “I drew something there, but you have to try and concentrate to see it.”  
  
“How do you know that you drew something there?” Dom asks, sceptical about it.  
  
“Because  _I_  can see it myself. And I know that from what you told me this morning, so can you if you concentrate on it,” Corvo points out.  
  
Dom squints his eyes, trying to decipher what is on the blank dry paper. Corvo had used something to act like invisible ink. What he drew is the actual problem that he has to solve.  
  
Then, like a glimmer, he sees it.  
  
“It’s three triangles,” Dom answers, frowning. He could’ve sworn that he didn’t see  _that_  less than a minute ago. He really needs to go and see an optometrist or an ophthalmologist, whichever one can diagnosed what the hell is wrong with his eyes.  
  
However, the look on Corvo’s face is more than telling that he knows of what Dom has. He grins so wide that it looks like it might hurt. He says, “First, you don’t need to see an optometrist today because your eyes are fine. And second, I don’t know who the hell your ancestors were, but whoever they were, they left with some good genes in your DNA.”  
  
\-----  
  
Dom can be an early riser when the need calls for it, such as a live or album recording or a breakfast date. Being woken up before the alarm that he’d set up by the loud banging of pots in his room, was not the call that he ever wants.  
  
“What the fuck?!” he exclaims, glaring at Corvo in his room, in a T-shirt and yoga pants.  
  
“Rise and shine, Dominic. I got breakfast ready and we’re driving out in half an hour,” Corvo greets him.  
  
Dom turns to look at the alarm clock before turning back to Corvo and shout at him again. “It’s four in the morning!”  
  
“Exactly.”  
  
“And where the fuck were you?! You didn’t come back the whole night!” It is true. After dinner, Corvo said that he was going out and told Dom not to wait for him. He defied that and had waited for the other man until he gave up and went to sleep around 11PM.  
  
“I was busy preparing the training ground for your next lesson.” Dom sits up to glare at the beaming Assassin, looking far too bright and awake at this hour of the morning.  
  
“Come on,” Corvo bangs the pots together a couple of times, much to Dom’s displeasure and his poor ears. “Wash, get clothed, eat, and we leave.”  
  
Once Corvo left his room, he rubs his face and groans. So much for going back to sleep.  
  
If there is one useful thing that he wants to learn right now, Dom is sure that it has something to do with finding Corvo’s tools for lockpicking and hide that away.  
  
\-----  
  
The drive was a half an hour trip from the city out to the countryside. They left the main road for a small road without a sign. The conditions of the dirt road has shown that it was long abandoned, as even the grass have grown tall on the worn, hard path.  
  
The younger man must’ve found this location and deemed it suitable to train Dom. As far as they’re concerned, it’s a good place to set up an outside training ground for other activities that were unsuitable for Dom’s backyard or the city.  
  
“You are left-handed right, Dominic?” Corvo asks when they got out of the car and start walking. Dom nods. From the distance, Dom can spot a few practice dummies set up in strategic places around the training area.  
  
“Then you wear this on your right arm,” Corvo pulls out an item from his messenger bag and tosses it to the drummer, who catches it with ease. “Today I’m going to teach you how to use the hidden blade. It’s quite easy to use once you get a hang of it, and how it works is right on its name itself.”  
  
Dom takes a look at the weapon given to him. From its appearance, it looks like a mechanism attached to a leather piece with two belt straps to put on his arm. The front hinge reinforces and conceals the deadly weapon to the blond that it functions as a hidden sleeve dagger, but he hasn’t seen any button that releases it. It is exactly that because it cannot be seen at all that it points out to Dom of its deadliness as a concealed weapon.  
  
Dom observes as Corvo puts his on his left arm, showing that the weapon is meant to be positioned under the wrist before following the same and tightening the weapon in place.  
  
“Just a flick of your waist and out comes the blade,” Corvo says, showing to Dom on how to release and extend the blade out. “I brought in the basic type of it. But it’s still best that you let the blade out away from your face.”  
  
The blade extends out about six inches in length, which was short of reaching the tip of his middle finger, the weapon is pretty impressive in itself. If it weren’t lethal enough already to be able to conceal under his wrist, then the length of the knife blade was sure enough to prove so.  
  
The Japanese Assassin then gives a show on the various types of assassinations that can be done with the hidden blade. From the simple stabbing the dummy from behind and doing a run and hit; to ones that rely on being stealthy such as assassinations while hiding inside haystacks, covers and corners; to the much more difficult methods such as a ledge assassination.  
  
The best and most dangerous one was kept for the last, when Corvo does what he calls an air assassination. He jumped off the ledge of the balcony that he was crouching on and landed on the target dummy below him, blade sheathed deep into the burlap sack.  
  
“And that,” Corvo stands up, pulling the blade out with a grin, “is how you can kill with the hidden blade.”  
  
“How the fuck are you going to do that last one without breaking your legs?” Dom says with skepticism and disbelief.  
  
“The bodies will make a good cushion to break your fall,” Corvo answers. Dom takes a few steps back.  
  
“No way.” Dom refuses, shaking his head. It is way too early to do lessons like this, not since it involves  _jumping off a goddamn building_  just to stab someone in the back.  
  
“Come on,” the younger man insists. “I didn’t spend the whole night here stuffing hay and sandbags into those sacks and make target dummies for nothing.”  
  
Dom resisted in the form of a glare and crossing his arms.  
  
He did well in terms of resistance over the years of suffering this from Matt, until Corvo’s face shifts into that of big beady eyes and a pout, which is also what Matt does. After some time, Dom sighs audibly as he walks towards the barn and starts climbing up, ignoring the smug face that he is tempted to punch at. He can do the ledge one first. Might as well tackle the hardest ones first.  
  
“Now chop chop, we’re not wasting this day without you at least mastering most of the assassination techniques. I need to teach you how to fight with those blades for today too.”  
  
It’s going to be a long day, which Dom is sure of.  
  
\-----  
  
“You need improvements towards your skills in stealth,” Corvo says over dinner. Today they are having  _daube_  that has been cooked almost a whole day and ready to serve by the time they came home. “I know you’ve been learning some from Poppy, but you are still easily noticed with your techniques so far. And you also need to learn how to detect whether someone is spying or stalking you. I’ve shown you some examples so far of that last part.”  
  
“Corvo, I don’t think that suddenly appearing in the bathroom while I was showering counts,” Dom says, sounding miffed as he stabs his fork down on a piece of stewed beef a little too hard before he puts it into his mouth. He still isn’t happy about the perfume bottle that was smashed to pieces from that scare the other day. That was his favourite perfume to boot.  
  
“Of course it does!” the younger man insists. “Assassins can strike when their targets are at their most vulnerable time. You need to be able to sense if someone is coming after you, and strike them back when they least expect it.”  
  
In turn, Dom glares at him.  
  
“If you’re going to do that while I’m in bed, I will tie you to your bed before I go to sleep,” Dom warns the taller man, pointing his fork in a threatening way towards Corvo’s face.  
  
“It’s good that you’re prepared there!” Corvo cackles, finishing his glass of wine before pouring another.  
  
Luckily, Dom has a plan to counter what Corvo might do to him. And it is dead simple.  
  
The jamming session that they went through after dinner was more than enough to wear the younger man out and going to bed, and effectively made him forget about any plans to sneak into the drummer’s bedroom to scare him. Dom sleeps peacefully that night, after locking the door and windows of course.  
  
As much as he is learning from Corvo on becoming an Assassin, he’s starting to learn some tricks of his own. One is to tire the younger man out so that he goes to sleep than doing something stupid.  _That_  is something useful.  
  
\-----  
  
“Dominic, do you suffer from acrophobia?”  
  
“Not really, why?”  
  
“It’s a funny thing how the fear of heights is one of the most common fears that humans have, isn’t it?” Corvo muses, his eyes looking on the horizon beyond the fields. “Yet, we can get onto airplanes with not a single thought of that fear. Come some turbulence and the fear is still very much there, but we can’t see the ground. We’re just shooting through the skies in capsule with wings and jets. Do you see where I am going with this?”  
  
“I think so.”  
  
“The reason why we fear heights is not because of an irrational fear of being in high places, but rather… it’s that sensation of falling and the thought of being on imbalance grounds that provides the fear.”  
  
“So you’re saying that that we’re scared of heights is because we don’t want to fall to our deaths?”  
  
“Precisely,” Corvo nods firmly.  
  
“Why are you telling me all this right before we’re going to jump off from the ledge of the rooftops and land on a haystack?” Dom asks, incredulous at the whole conversation so far.  
  
“It’s an irrational action, isn’t it? Having to leap off and dive into anything that cushions our fall.  _Hoping_  that the latter actually works.”  
  
“And it’s appropriate to talk about it while standing about fifteen meters from the ground?” Dom looks at him inquisitively. He can sense that there’s another motive behind Corvo talking about the fear of heights and falling.  
  
“I was half expecting that you’ll back out by now and I’ll have to push you off,” Corvo pouts, sounding a bit disappointed that the blond is not following his expectations of being scared. They still remember what happened a few weeks ago, and Dom will not let Corvo have another satisfaction this time.  
  
“You sound like you’ve done this to others before,” Dom stares at him. “And you’re  _not_  going to push me off when you can just show me how you do it. That one time by the tower was because we were climbing up a tower.”  
  
Corvo cackles, which Dom responds by glaring at him until he relents by holding his hands up.  
  
“Alright, alright. A promise is a promise. I’m not going to push you off,” Corvo laughs. He walks towards the ledge and crouches, preparing himself. “Watch and observe how I do it, before you get your turn.”  
  
Arms spread out, he jumps off from the roof in a dive, quickly turning to his back like an acrobat right before his body lands in the hay. He gets out of the haystack showing no signs of injury whatsoever.  
  
“That is what a leap of faith is,” Corvo shouts out from below, brushing some stray dry grass that are sticking to his body off of him. “Don’t think about the fall. Just jump!”  
  
 _Great advice_ , Dom thinks.  
  
“Also! Remember, if you can do it, make sure that you be on your back before you hit the hay!”  
  
Dom gulps. He never liked how others can make what they do look easy, especially when it comes to extreme sports. If he fails at this one… well, at least it’s not that high that he’ll get anything worse than a broken leg if he lands down feet first. Assuming that he can do that after doing a dive.  
  
Dom shakes such negative thoughts off, not wanting to chicken out just from overthinking the position he is in. Steeling his nerves up, Dom takes in a deep breath, says ‘fuck it’ under his breath, and leaps off.  
  
All too soon, though, Dom is on his back, buried within the hay. Aside from the shock that he actually took the jump and the ringing in his ears, doing the leap was… exhilarating. Exciting. Fun.  
  
When Dom comes out of the haystack, barely looking worse for wear and adrenaline having kicked start in his body, Corvo is grinning back at him.  
  
“You did it on your first try. That was fucking impressive!” Corvo congratulates Dom, helping him out of the haystack. “Wanna have a go at it again?”  
  
It makes the climb back up worth it.  
  
\-----  
  
In the end, Corvo stayed at his house for nearly four weeks before going back home, citing that he has an upcoming tour coming up in a couple of weeks that requires him to be back in Japan to prepare with his bandmates.  
  
“Wasn’t so bad in the end was it, Dominic?” Corvo asks as they wait for the taxi to arrive and pick the Japanese Assassin up to the airport. Or more accurately, Corvo has packed up early in the morning and they still have an hour to kill before the car arrives.  
  
Dom stares at him, then replies after a beat.  
  
“If not so bad means I didn’t get horrific injuries or died from your training, I can agree with that,” Dom answers, shrugging and having a grin then appearing to curve his lips upwards.  
  
“That’s a good positive way to think about it!” Corvo cackles. The younger man, Dom has concluded after a month spent with him, is at times insane and has a morbid sense of humour. But nothing can take away the fact that he has been a good mentor and friend to know of. He has an aptitude in teaching and is a very good chef to boot.  
  
“Oh yeah!” Corvo snaps his fingers, suddenly reminded of what he is supposed to do. “I should give this to you right now before I leave,” he says, pulling out what appears to be a small brown case and gives it to the drummer. “It’s yours to keep from now on.”  
  
Curious, Dom opens the bag to reveal a Hidden Blade attached to a bracer, and a combat knife.  
  
“You’re an Initiate now by the standards of your training so far. Even then, you’re not going to stay as an Initiate for too long,” the younger man explains. “You may be given these basic weapons, but you’re still learning. Keep it somewhere safely hidden when you’re not on the road, but keep it close to you whenever possible.”  
  
Dom smiles at Corvo, bright and sincere. “Thank you.”  
  
“It’s nothing, really. This is just the basic stuff that I am giving to you,” Corvo says. “Most of us who started the training to become Assassins like this will get it eventually when you move up the ranks. The Hidden Blade will be your constant companion throughout the years ahead of you, so take good care of it.”  
  
“I will,” Dom nods, closing the case shut and holding it tightly in his hands. He has not thought of where to hide it yet, but for the time being, it feels as though that there is progress in his path towards becoming what he has sworn to be.  
  
“By the way, I got one question for you. Why do you call yourself Corvo while as an Assassin?” Dom asks. The curiosity of the other’s alias and names have been something that piqued his interest. He knows of Poppy, and that Poppy is not her real name either. It is Corvo’s that stood out, both as an Assassin and as a musician.  
  
Corvo answers that with a crooked grin. “It used to be my old stage name back when I was my previous band in England, before I changed it to ‘M’ when I started my current band. But the name ‘Corvo’ has always been associated with my Assassin persona more than you think so.”  
  
“Does that name Corvo carry some meaning with it?”  
  
“Very,” Corvo chuckles. However, Dom is able to pick up something from that laugh, hearing a bit of a strain in there. It is as if he using that laughter to mask something else there, but cannot fathom what.  
  
“Will I ever know your real name?” Dom asks.  
  
“You could try, but you’re not at a high level security clearance yet,” Corvo smirks, and ends it at that when the taxi arrived. He stands up, messenger bag over his shoulder and pulls his luggage bag towards the door. Turning to Dom, he bows. “Thank you for allowing me to stay here to continue your training.”  
  
Dom opts to shake his hand, which Corvo obliges to. “You’re welcome. Just remember to call me than to break in to my place from now on. Hope we can see each other soon.”  
  
“You’ll see me soon again when the time comes for it.”  
  
Unaware to Dom, it’s also one of the last time he meets up with Corvo face to face before he gets to see the younger man again, months later. They certainly aren’t going to meet anytime closer to soon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On tonight's chapter: Corvo is in a mission, Dom is a conjurer of great foods, memories are played around with, and it's Christmas! And I am slow in updating this! I apologise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music: Aftermath - Muse

December 10th, 2010  
   
The Midlands is not special or exceptional, but as it goes, wet and cold makes the weather unbearable but to those who have something to do to be outside. Which sucks anyway. Two men are resting against the walls of a gas station out on the highway, cups of coffee that came from a Costa coffee machine keeping their hands warm as they drink and wait for what is to come.  
   
“How sure are you that this will all go smoothly for us?” one of them asks, his accent heavy enough that any passer-by would know that he is not British. He would sound French, and they will not go wrong with such an assumption.  
   
“If the man’s smart enough to hack and retrieve top secret data from Abstergo and upload it to WikiLeaks, he’s certainly going to be smart enough to take advantage of the situation provided to him,” the other says, finishing the last of his Costa coffee and tossing the empty paper cup to the bin. “We’re just making sure that his escape will be successful.”  
   
“This man must be worth something if we are pulled out and staying here, wet and cold, Corvo,” the Frenchman grumbles, having long finished his coffee and just trying to keep warm.  
   
“To be able hack into their servers and steal files for months on end is like waving a red cloth to a bull. That person has guts to do that to Abstergo, the kind of person that has piqued our interest. And wet and cold is the norm of the British weather, so stop whining, you loser.”  
   
Their conversation was cut short when they spot a van stopping by the gas station. A couple of men in uniforms stepped out of the vehicle. Their uniform and caps are easily recognisable as men working in the corporation. It is pathetic, really, of Abstergo tending to underestimate what they are dealing with nowadays.  
   
“Time to rescue and recruit an Englishman, Corvo,” the accented man laughs before pulling his hood on.  
   
“Time to go,” Corvo agrees, and they start moving.  
   
“A kiss for good luck?” the Frenchman offers.  
   
Corvo all but shoots the other a blank look and a resounding “No”.  
   
The keep watch as the guards busy themselves in the gas station, as a bespectacled blond man silently got out of the back of the van and into the back of the gas station, trying his best to evade attention and to escape. The two Assassins quickly follow the blond man and the Frenchman easily catches him.  
   
The bespectacled man is in a panic and appears to either wanting to scream out for help despite the hand on his mouth, wanting to bite said hand, or both unless they quickly put him under control and let him see that he is safe with them.  
   
“Calm down, we saw that you were escaping from that van and we’re here to help you,” Corvo says, putting his hands up. “We don’t like Abstergo either. We can help you get away from them if you only accept our help.”  
   
The blond man only slightly calmed down a bit from struggling, but his eyes still show distrust. They can’t blame him for that. The poor man had only just escaped from the van only to be thought that he was being kidnapped again in such a short span of time in between. Eventually, with reluctance, he nods and the Frenchman releases him. Still, he kept a hold of the blond by his shoulder as he and Corvo lead him to the car they parked nearby.  
   
“You’re driving. I am still not used to driving on the wrong side of the road,” the Frenchman says, all but taking the passenger seat and leave Corvo no other choice but to be the driver.  
   
Once they are on the road and saw that they were not discovered or followed yet, Corvo nods towards the Frenchman, and in turn the other hands a plastic bag with its contents to the back to the blond man.  
   
“Here are a couple of sandwiches, a bag of Maltesers, a bottle of water, and a cup of black coffee. There’s cream and sugar packets if you want to add some to it,” Corvo says. “We might be on the road for some time before we get you to a safe house. Best that you eat and drink up a bit.”  
   
“Who are you two?!” the bespectacled man sputters, finally finding the courage to speak, but accepts the food and drink nonetheless. What can he say? He was famished after such a hectic day of what was essentially a kidnapping orchestrated by a corporation that didn’t like him snooping around their servers and stealing files.  
   
“The other half responsible in saving your arse,” Corvo replies, his eyes looking at the other man using the rear mirror. “You are Shaun Hastings, aren’t you?”  
   
“No, I’m Danny Wallace,” he replies, dripping with sarcasm and rainwater. When he didn’t get a response from that, he sighs and relents. “Yes, I am the famed history professor, Shaun Hastings. So may I ask again as to who are you two and where are we going?”  
   
“Your rescuers. And we’re taking you to somewhere safe from Abstergo,” Corvo answers. Said answers didn’t seem to impress the blond. In fact, Shaun’s response to it is a snarky comment.  
   
“Oh-- Oh yes, somewhere in the British Isles, I’ll be safe and sound from Abstergo, and a little band of some wannabe rescuers will protect me. Do you not think that I now know how much trouble I am in now that I just escaped from their hands?”  
   
Ignoring that cynical jab, Corvo pulls his phone out presses a speed dial.  
   
“Rebecca, we got Hastings,” Corvo informs as soon as the other side has picked up the call. “We’re bringing him to one of the safe houses.”  
   
Rebecca is relieved to hear that as she spoke.  _“Great job, guys. Send me the coordinates of it once you’re safe and sound.”_  
   
“Will do. Good day, Rebecca.” With the call done, Corvo disconnects the phone. It is now that something else piqued Shaun’s interest.  
   
“Wait a minute… You know Rebecca?” Shaun glances at the two men seated in the front.  
   
“How can we not when she is the one who was responsible in saving your arse in the first place? She was the one who hacked into the computer systems of the van you were in to make them stop at that gas station we were in,” Corvo gives Shaun some assurance with confidence. “She sent out the two of us to wait and rescue you, and when you find her or she finds you, you’ll know why.”  
   
“Why not now?”  
   
“Wouldn’t that ruin the surprise?” the Frenchman who had been silent during the journey in the car so far finally speaks, and chuckles. Corvo gives him a shove, and turns his attention back to Shaun.  
   
"So how does Wolverhampton sound to you, Mr Hastings?" Corvo asks. The blond man scrunched his face in disgust.  
   
"Horrible."  
   
"Great! We have a safe house there to keep you safe and sound until Rebecca contacts you," Corvo says, quickly typing in the coordinates on the SatNav. “Although I can’t remember if it’s in a basement or in a suburban area. Or both.”  
   
“Great,” Shaun mutters under his breath and settle down in the backseat for the trip.  
   
\-----  
   
For once, both Matt and Chris and Tom have decided to come over to Nice, which is really nice. His whole house is going to be hectic and filled with adults and children alike, but worth it in his opinion. Just like it is worth hauling heavy bagful’s of groceries home while stopping Hendrix from attacking the frozen turkey and ham.  
   
Knowing them, the amount of food that he is carrying is enough for leftovers to make. He wonders if it is possible to make bubble and squeak out of Christmas leftovers. That is if his stomach still has room for food the next morning.  
   
Getting his house ready for a small party is going to be hectic. At least he doesn’t have to hire catering services. Decorating his house, preparing presents for each and every one of his friends, and making Christmas dinner from scratch is a great idea until he kicks himself in the ass for thinking that it was a great idea in the first place until it comes to turning it into reality.  
   
Once they have their luggage and themselves settled down in a rented villa nearby, Chris and his growing family were the first to arrive. And the first to compliment his new physical features.  
   
“Wow Howard, been working out lately?” he whistles, after giving Dom a bear hug and pats his abdomen where the bassist can feel some taut muscles there. “Looked like you gained some weight.”  
   
“Need to keep up to shape with my age these days,” Dom shrugs and acts nonchalant at it, although mentally, he is pleased with himself and the compliment given to him.  
   
A month of training with Corvo and being fed with fresh produce and steady delicious dietary has made Dom visibly fitter than he ever had in years. If anything, he has a lot to thank for how one of the perks of training to be an Assassin is definitely this.  
   
“Maybe you can have some time to play football with me and the kids later then since you’re going for being fit and stuff?” Chris smirks, crossing his arms.  
   
“A friendly match would be fine, but let’s not go competitive for it, Chris,” Dom smirks back. For a brief moment, he wonders if his freerunning skills can come in handy for football. After all, football involves a lot of running anyways.  
   
When Matt arrived later with Tom, this is when Dom knows that the party has started.  
   
\-----  
   
The house is a cacophony of noise.  
   
There are the sounds of children screaming and running throughout the house.  
   
Swearing and loud cheers are heard as the men duked it on through video games.  
   
Christmas songs are played loudly from the living room mixed with the raucous noise of the men laughing and chatting loudly in there.  
   
Hendrix is visibly unnerved by the amount of people just an hour into since the children are around and has hidden off to somewhere much quieter in the house.  
   
It is the Christmas holidays, and Dom could not enjoy it any other way. Even if the children are not exactly behaving and are trying to find where he has hidden their presents. Aside from a few crows hanging around and cawing in his garden thanks to the birds deciding that they liked hanging out there, things are going fine so far.  
   
Earlier on, he had spotted Ava walking around with a small, odd looking teddy bear and assumes that she had a new one that is smaller and easier to bring around with her. Or an early Christmas present given to her before they come here.  
   
Most of the time, Dom is busy in the kitchen, having to cook and prepare for the main event of the evening while the rest of the men are busy getting good themselves encumbered by mulled wine and other alcoholic drinks that they can find and video games. He is just happy that Kelly is willing to help him before the promised event of the evening comes.  
   
Kelly is but a godsend to him as he tries to remember what goes next and what will come as expected and ready for as they prepare for the main event. Why did he decide to do this with his own hands again?  
   
The menu of his Christmas dinner is a balance of meat, vegetables, carbs and Kelly’s homemade tiramisu that is to die for. The beverages are already covered thanks to every adult pitching in to buy the wine and other drinks.  
   
"Kelly, could you pass me that bowl of grated horseradish there, please?" Dom asks, getting the bowl as requested as he tosses in a few teaspoons worth of it into a larger bowl of boiled potatoes.  
   
"I didn't know that you have some culinary skills in you, Dom," Kelly comments as she watches the drummer mashed and mixed the potatoes and horseradish together.  
   
"I hope that’s not sarcasm. I’m just doing things a bit differently for Christmas dinner," Dom replies, not mentioning a word that he had learned this from Corvo. Admittedly, he loves that kick the horseradish provides with the potatoes when mashed together. It certainly will give an adventurous kick for their taste buds tonight. “How is the turkey in the oven?”  
   
“It’s roasting along nicely,” she answers after bending down to give a good look at the poultry in the oven.  
   
“Everything is going accordingly to my plan then,” Dom says with some satisfaction from that. He quickly leaves behind the potatoes for Kelly to deal with to take the boiling pot off of the stove. Pouring the water out, he pours the brussel sprouts into a bowl and pours some pepper over it. Once that is done, he switches to the next task at hand.  
   
Whilst Dom is busy with the sauces, Kelly pops in one of the cooked brussel sprouts, and Dom notices that her face scrunches in confusion as she chews.  
   
“What is the matter, Kelly?” Dom asks, concerned. “Something wrong with the brussel sprouts?”  
   
“No, nothing wrong with it,” she shakes her head. “Just... doesn’t taste bitter at all and the texture is still crunchy.”  
   
“Is that still bad?” Dom asks just to be sure. He is aware that he is going on a different route with the dinner, but he doesn’t want to freak them out  _that_  much with doing little different changes here and there.  
   
“It’s really delicious, is all,” Kelly hums in delight as she swallows it down. “The kids are going to love the whole thing. The dinner will be amazing, Dom, I can swear it.”  
   
And he believes her. Because how does one not believe her claim when she said this just from eating a single brussel sprout?  
   
\-----  
   
The Christmas dinner is a big success. Everyone, including the Wolstenkids, loved the little turns and twists for how Dom did with the food. The mashed potatoes with horseradish were loved by young and old alike. The turkey that is usually dry is moist and succulent, with seconds requested for until there are more bones than there is meat on the platter.  
   
When they toasted, they thanked the meal all to Dominic Howard, the great chef for the evening to have served the best Christmas dinner of the year. A lot of the food that they loved and commented about throughout the whole evening, was something that he liked when Corvo was around and showed him how much better some mundane foods can be when combined with other ingredients to make it better or different, to pay attention to the cooking methods to improve and prevent loss of taste.  
   
The festivities of the dining room soon moves to the living room, where drinks and snacks are served. The children looked rightfully tired after playing around and had a big meal to keep them stuffed.  
   
Matt has disappeared away upstairs at some point during the party, and Dom remains as the gracious host. Soon, when one of the younger children starts pandering to their parents of how tired they are, the Wolstenholmes left tired but with high spirits. Tom joined them as he knows that he’s going to be back the next day.  
   
Dom scans around the living room, picking up emptied glasses and dirty dishes to be washed tomorrow. The leftover food is put into the refrigerator. With glasses of wine in hand, it was easy to find where Matt is when talking to people becomes too much for him or becomes a bore: the music room.  
   
He finds Matt as expected, with a guitar in his hands. If it weren’t for the fact that the party is in France, the singer would have found a much more fitting instrument to play with. It’s funny how Matt is somewhat annoyed in coming here. The complaint has not been that the music room is too small to fit a baby grand, but rather that Dom is stingy about space. Chris occasionally leaves one of his bass guitars here, but there are two of Matt’s guitars that have been permanently living in this house for a while now.  
   
“You can fit a keyboard there! Or maybe an upright piano!” is Matt’s argument/suggestion. And then Dom curtly reminds him that if there is another instrument such as a piano no matter what their sizes are in a room not fit for to be a studio, then how will he get out behind his drum kit? That either immediately gives Dom an automatic win in their argument as the singer had not thought that through, or Matt says something stupid like climbing over his kit, which still allows Dom to win by default.  
   
He stays by the doorway to watch Matt play without any outside interruption. Somehow, for some reason, he falls back to a memory goes back to that one day, the conversation between him and Corvo.  
   
\-----  
   
_“Something is bothering you,” Corvo says out of the blue during a fine day off. Corvo has been busy scribbling down various songs on the island bar. There is a large notebook open with papers surrounding it on the table, all of them lyrics handwritten in different languages. Some of them the drummer can recognise as Japanese and English, and even in Chinese._  
   
_“I’m not bothered by anything,” Dom says and quickly drinking his coffee, even though it’s an obvious white lie._  
   
_“Is it something to do with your relationship with Matthew?” Dom almost took had a double take, his head quickly turning to the singer in shock and denial ready on the tip of his tongue._  
   
_“What? No. No, it isn’t-- What makes you say that?” he babbles, his eyes refusing to look at Corvo._  
   
_Corvo responded back by staring at him in an incredulous manner. It’s a big mistake to fuck up in front of Corvo as he had learned by now, for once his suspicions are confirmed in any way whatsoever, you can’t escape from him and his withering eyes._  
   
_Dom sighs, putting the mug down and asks, “What gave it away?”_  
   
_“The way you talked about him,” Corvo says as he scribbles down another line to replace one that he didn’t like. “The other day during training when I made you confess about it, and the way that I used him to taunt you, it pretty much confirmed to me on what is between you and Matthew.”_  
   
_“Really?” Dom says, unsurprised._  
   
_“Dominic, there’s only two types of people who would do that,” Corvo points out. “Really tight knit friends or lovers. And I mostly have seen the latter.”_  
   
_This time, Dom turns to look at Corvo. He shot right at the bullseye._  
   
_“So start explaining to me with a story.”_  
   
_“No way,” he refuses. When all he got was a very expectant face that looks stubborn at him, he sighs._  
   
_“I’m pretty sure when it started was around last year,” Dom confides to him. “After that messy break up with Gaia, he needed a lot of support. Lots of us did our best, giving him time and space. Letting him learn to move on. It really broke him for what he had to go through and leave her behind him. When I think about it now, he ran towards me for it more than anyone else.”_  
   
_“So you slept with him one night,” Corvo deadpans, not looking away from his notebook as he writes once more._  
   
_“It was just supposed to be one night!” Dom defends himself. Then he deflates. “And things just… happen again and again. So we have this silent agreement to do it when we can’t find anyone else to do it with.”_  
   
_“Those are some benefits being friends with you,” Corvo says coyly, tapping the pen in his fingers._  
   
_“He needed a lot of support. Just about everyone could see how hurt he was back then from that breakup. I wasn’t faring any better with a recent breakup too, but Gaia leaving him broke him more than anyone had expected.”_  
   
_“But you wanted more,” Corvo deducted._  
   
_“God, it feels selfish to think like that,” Dom says with a forced laugh, his face in his hands. “A relationship. Moving in. Settling down. Just about everything that Matt would want right there, but I’m the one who wants it so badly while trying to be there to support him as I should as a friend.” He can hear Corvo humming a tune, a steady and light one, before he lets his thought out loud._  
   
_“It’s not selfish. It’s what your feelings are conveying towards him,” the younger man says. “But you’re scared that it might jeopardised whatever you have between you and him.”_  
   
_“No shit. We’re best friends all over again while producing The Resistance. Had a lot to catch up on what we almost lost,” Dom murmurs. “And then… that happened, and it’s sort of a bonding thing to Matt.”_  
   
_“I can’t say that you have to keep waiting for him to show that he wants you, Dominic. If anything, the fact that the two of you kept it going for almost a year now shows that you are going the right route.”_  
   
_“How do you know it’s right?” If anything, it feels wrong to think that it is right._  
   
_“There’s always trials and tribulations along the road that you walk, but if you keep on walking, eventually you will reach where you have wished to be in. So stop trying to think whether if it’s right or wrong and start thinking about taking the chance to do it,” he says. With that said, he goes back to writing while Dom drinks his cup of tea._  
   
_It isn’t much of a good advice, he thinks, but it is an encouraging one. He has to admit, it feels liberating to talk about a heavy subject like this with Corvo. Someone who isn’t part of their inner circle and yet doesn’t judge him in a negative and doubtful light._  
   
_“Man, you know so much about me, yet I know so little about you,” Dom points out._  
   
_“What do you want to know about me?” Corvo asks, busy scribbling down another lyrical line._  
   
_“Something not associated with the Assassins. Your personal life should be interesting,” Dom shrugs. “I don’t know much about you aside from what Wikipedia and Google have offered so far.” That is to say, only the bare minimum of his band’s history and their discography._  
   
_Corvo makes a noise and then looks back at Dom. “Alright then. It’s fair that you have to know me too. Where do you want to start?”_  
   
_“How about you and this Link guy that you talked about before?” Dom suggests, since he occasionally hears from Corvo talking about that man whenever it falls into discussions of band-related activities or a bit of his personal life._  
   
_Corvo turns to Dom with a smirk, putting his pen down and says, “Now that is a story worth telling._  
   
“ _Link is a drummer like you, only taller. And dyes his hair white. We first met when we were about four years old,” Corvo says, reminiscing a childhood memory. “But it’s more accurate to say that I rescued him from some older kids bullying him back then. I drove them away, and right in front of him, I told him that I was going to be his friend from now on. We were never apart since then.”_  
   
_Dom’s lips curled up into a smile. “That’s cute.”_  
   
_“Somehow, throughout the years, we were in the same kindergarten, then elementary school, and then middle school, and even up till high school,” Corvo giggles, shaking his head. “The last one was pretty impressive, since he had to study his ass off to pass the rigorous exams just to follow me to a prestigious high school.”_  
   
_“So are you two are almost never apart from each other?” Dom questions._  
   
_Corvo shakes his head. “Never. Wherever one of us goes somewhere, the other follows. Even during school holidays where I go to Malaysia for summer vacations with my family to stay with relatives there, he tags along too._  
   
_“But then when time marches on, the separation was bound to happen,” Corvo smiles wryly. “Link was studying in a local college and had a part time job. For me, I ended up in studying overseas in Britain.”_  
   
_“To where? London?”_  
   
_Corvo grins. “No. Oxford.”_  
   
_Dom’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? No way.”_  
   
_Corvo’s grin only got wider. “Trinity College. I had the grades for it and got a scholarship. Mom was ecstatic about it, and I liked the city too as soon as I arrived there. The buildings were perfect for me to climb and run around. Maybe you should go there someday to appreciate it too. It was too bad that I wasn’t picked for Christ Church though.”_  
   
_“Why is that?”_  
   
_“It could’ve saved me the time to get there and climb up its highest tower. It was such a hassle to get through the walls and security getting in and out, but it was worth it.”_  
   
_Dom rolls his eyes. Such a thing from Corvo almost feels typical of him._  
   
_“Truth be told, however, I didn’t like it at first once I settled down,” Corvo turns somber. “Like I said, it was the first time that me and Link were separated for such a long time in between. I was in another country all by myself. There were the holidays, but I rarely went back because I had a band and then eventually, things to do with the Assassins, unfortunately.”_  
   
_“That must have sucked being unable to see him,” Dom’s face softened in sympathy. He couldn’t imagine a time where he and his bandmates were separated apart for long periods of time, mostly because they visit each other, one way or another. Three or four years apart, maybe more? He shudders to think that far ahead on such a subject._  
   
_“Yeah,” Corvo notes sadly. “We have phones and email to keep in contact, but it wasn’t the same as seeing each other and just hang out like we used to. He even did some things for me that I couldn’t in my absence in Japan, such as becoming a godfather to my nephew and niece for instance.”_  
   
_From hearing this so far, Dom is sorely tempted to pat him on the back. He wasn’t just lonely and homesick for a few years._  
   
_“Then one day, out of the blue, he sent me a message telling me that someday he’ll come over to England by himself. It was all talk at first when he declared that, and I took it as a joke. We were aware that he didn’t have that much money to come to me,” Corvo has long forgotten his notebook, now far more immersed in talking about a story from the past. A smile appears again. “But then he keeps mentioning about it whenever we talked through the phone or email. My roommates thought that I had a boyfriend in a long distance relationship. It actually gave me hope towards Link making his promise come true.”_  
   
_“So what happened?” Dom asks despite expecting where the story will go._  
   
_If Corvo had paused and pointed out that Dom has a stupid smile stuck on his face, the blond would not even bother to rub it away. The story is sweet as far as it goes after taking a downturn there, to see a side of the Assassin with his happy memories._  
   
_“I was performing with my band in a local venue in the city, and he’d just arrived from the train station with nothing but a suitcase, a travel dictionary, and a freshly bought ticket from the box office,” Corvo says, the nostalgia a treasure to him. “I still remember that one night with clarity. A happy memory of mine. I played so hard that I took a stage dive. I even almost convinced my band to let him play the drums for a bit, but he was too tired to do so._  
   
_“He stayed for more than a month, and we were barely apart to make up for lost time between the two of us. Jamming with him again…” he chuckles and shakes and his head. “When he played the drums, I had the feeling that I wanted to be in no other band if he isn’t there, you know.”_  
   
_“So are you and him…?” Dom elaborates it with a raised eyebrow, because there is no way that it doesn’t hint their relationship as anything but._  
   
_Corvo smirks, tutting at Dom. “Don’t come to your conclusions so quickly. What I said might as well as be exaggeration there, don’t you think? It’s from my point of view, and he’s been my best friend since we were four.”_  
   
_“How do you exaggerate a story that sounds genuinely heart-warming?”_ and that he might be your boyfriend _, Dom wanted to add._  
   
_“By not giving you any more details to it,” Corvo answers, smirking. He catches the bread roll that Dom threw at him, still smirking at the scowling blond._  
   
_“Fuck you.”_  
   
\-----  
   
Dom waits until Matt finishes and is out of his trance before he speaks out.  
   
“Don’t mind the company, Matt?” Matt turns to him, beckoning him to enter the room. He sees Matt shooting a look at him and asks, “Something the matter?”  
   
“Yeah, the guitar was not tuned to the one that I usually set but I quickly fixed it,” he explains, scowling at the instrument and then turning to Dom. “Did you touched my guitar before?”  
   
"No," Dom answers, his mind side-tracked to the memory of something that happened weeks ago. It was a lot of fun, and gave him hints of what he knows what the other's musical style is like.  
   
Dom's memories go back to those times when he jammed with Corvo. When Corvo jammed with using Matt's guitar. When it was just sitting down and exchanging different styles and tastes of music between two men, and they forget everything else other than the fact that they are musicians instead of a mentor and a protégé in the Brotherhood.  
   
“So, what have you been doing around here? Got any interesting parties to tell about?”  
   
“No, no parties,” Dom shakes his head. “I was mostly working out. But I did have a friend staying here a while ago and showed me some great music.”  
   
“Oh, so someone  _did_  touched my guitar,” Matt says with an accusatory glance at Dom.  
   
“I never said nobody else touched it. I just said that I didn’t,” Dom corrects him.  
   
“Well said there,” Matt concedes.  
   
When Dom takes a chair and sits next to Matt, naturally the singer leans against him as he plays with an acoustic guitar, with Dom adding some beats by tapping his thighs. This is nice, this feeling and this way of spending their time together. With no one else around, the two of them can just be like this, with no outside interference or judgement on them.  
   
“It feels nice, like this,” Matt hums, his breath ticklish against the blond’s neck.  
   
“Yeah,” Dom grins. “So how has it been with you lately?”  
   
“It’s fine, all things considered,” Matt says. He sighs as he settles his face more comfortably between his neck and shoulder. Dom suspects that he might be sniffing him too. “It was an eye opener as well after a year. Dated around a little. Even snagged a date with a Hollywood star like Kate. But most of all, it reminds me that I still got the band, my family, the fans. Especially you.”  
   
At that, Dom keeps quiet, not sure if it is worth taking the risk to say it. The opportunity is ripe and right there for the taking. It is up to himself to figure out what do with it. He wonders if that memory of the talk between him and Corvo is what is pushing him to do this. Even with his story about his childhood friend. Part of the pain that he saw through the other’s eyes of his loneliness from separation and then the spark that appeared again when they got together again. Is it worth doing this risk for the desire of going towards the direction that he wants to be in?  
   
He throws caution to the wind and ask him a question in a quiet tone, “Are you sure about that, Bells?”  
   
Matt shrugs. “Well, I said it’s fine like this. I like where I am in my inner circle.”  
   
“But what if there’s someone in that inner circle of yours that doesn’t like the status quo that they’re in? Is it unfair for them to desire more out of you?” Dom asks, checking whether this push will turn into a shove or something else.  
   
“Where are you going with this, Dom?” Matt asks, pulling away from his neck and glancing at him, suspicious of where their conversation is going.  
   
“It’s… well… Fuck, this is not as easy as it looks to say it,” Dom curses, messing his hair and hating how tongue tied he is with this. He turns to Matt, looking at the brunet eye to eye. “Truth is, I want more between the two of us. I didn’t want to rush it. I thought that you still needed some time to sort things through your mind after what you had to go through with Gaia. Fuck, I’m such a selfish person for desiring more from what we already have.”  
   
With that said, Dom regretfully pulls away from the brunet and looks away. He isn’t sure what else to do, he has confessed to Matt more or less. Then a hand pulls him to turn back towards the other. What Matt says next to break the silence is what breaks the invisible wall between them.  
   
“What do you desire out from me, Dom?” Matt asks in a quiet but firm voice.  
   
Dom closes his eyes, taking a deep breath before opening his eyes and his answer. “I want us to be together. In a relationship as a couple.”  
   
“You’re shitting me, Dom,” Matt says, then realises what just came out of his mouth when Dom raised his eyebrows. “Wait, no, that didn’t come out right. I mean-- I thought  _I_  was the one who didn’t want to rush you to it. What with all the friends with benefits thing that we are in. We fucked, we cuddled, and we snogged. I have been starting to think that with what I’ve been doing so far, I thought I was unfair to impose what I want from you and getting disappointed with the results.”  
   
They looked at each other in astonishment at each other’s revelations. They had waited for one another to see if they can spot the signs, only to be revealed that they were blind from it. They were fucking blind the whole time.  
   
Then, Dom cracks up a smile. “Unfair, really? I thought you were uncomfortable of your sexuality from sleeping with me after such a messy breakup.”  
   
Matt shoots Dom a look that is laced with a smirk. “Uncomfortable? Me? I thought  _you_  were uncomfortable that you might really be gay because of me, after all these years of calling you that.”  
   
They burst out in laughter.  
   
“Man, I can’t believe that we are such dickheads!” Matt wheezes, wiping off tears that are running down his face.  
   
“I think we both know it, but we pushed it to the backburner in our heads like a couple of losers,” Dom says, struggling not to laugh too hard.  
   
Once Matt calms down, he looks at Dom with a sincere face that is… wow, is so intense. “So are you saying that we should go for it, Dom? No more running around in circles and all that shit?”  
   
Dom’s lips crook up into a smile, fingers interlocked with Matt’s. “What’s to stop us anymore at this point, Bells?”  
   
Matt’s grins for a bit, then falters when unsure of how to take the next move. “How are we going to transition from this to… that? I mean-- It’s weird and all to just ask if you want to be my boyfriend or something like that.”  
   
“For one, this is going to make me look stupid,” Dom mutters even as he gets down on one knee, his hands wrapped around Matt’s. It’s a stupid plan, but it is a plan nonetheless that came from the brunet himself. Whether it will work or not, he’ll get to that later.  
   
“D-Dom, what are you doing?” Matt asks, surprised and confused at where this is going.  
   
“I would’ve prepared something better to declare and show just how important you are to me, but we’re both a bit drunk, and this might do as it is,” Dom takes a deep breath, mentally preparing himself from vomiting in front of Matt, both figuratively and subjectively. “Matthew James Bellamy, will you accept this courtship to be my partner and lover?”  
   
“Are you sure you’re not proposing to me?” Matt looks at Dom with inquisitiveness, the whole situation making it awkward for him to comprehend that the drummer is asking  _him_  if he wants to date him. “Where did you hide the ring?”  
   
Dom makes a face. “I’m courting you, not proposing a marriage.”  
   
Matt’s response to this is… to laugh. And then get onto his knees to snog him. Then laugh some more. And then another snog.  
   
“I take that as a yes then?” Dom asks, his lips muffled by the other’s.  
   
“That was a very audacious action that you took there, Mr Howard,” Matt purrs in delight, climbing onto his lap.  
   
“But my courtship worked, didn’t it?” Dom grins.  
   
“Just kiss me senseless again right now, you wanker. You’re my boyfriend now,” Matt whispers, and Dom does it, nipping his bottom lip as revenge for being called that no matter how endearing the brunet makes it.  
   
\-----  
   
Dom wakes up to the cold air bothering his body. Bloody hell, he should’ve turned the heater on. He sits up and wonders where most of the warm duvet went, before he remembers what happened just hours before. He smiles at the sight of another man sleeping next to him wrapped up like a burrito, brunet hair peeking out of the duvet.  
   
To think that they finally are together, on Christmas of all days that he’d picked to finally say it.  
   
A warm thought came to his head as he imagines the scenario of what would happen in the morning. In the morning they will wake up, and one of them might be earlier than the other, watching and waiting for the other to wake up. It might be blue eyes opening up to see grey ones, or it might be the other way around.  
   
Call him sappy, but he likes the thought and imagery of it that makes the occasion all the more delightful to anticipate, even if it won’t be picture perfect.  
   
He just about manages to pull enough of the duvet off of Matt to cover himself waist down without disturbing the other. The curtains are not closed properly and moonlight shines into the room to give some brightness. Sleep will eventually take Dom, but not so soon and certainly not now, so he decides to see what he can do to pass the time. After rummaging around the drawer, he finally finds what he seeks, the familiar smooth and cool surface felt on his fingers as he pulls it out.  
   
The blood vial is a memento that reminds Dom of what has happened to his life recently. Of what could’ve happened if he had not met Corvo so far. Of his decision to join the Assassins in order to do better to protect Matt, not allowing a second chance like that from ever happening again.  
   
He turns to look at Matt, sleeping away without worry or aware of the world, unaware of his lover looking at him. He then looks back at the crystal cube in his hands, the drop of Matt’s blood within the vial, as if floating in the middle of the cube.  
   
Dom tightens his grip on the crystal blood vial.  
   
The blood vial is all but a reminder, yet still acts as a fresh wound. He can’t hope that he will protect him, for all he has now is that he must take it to heart with what he is doing lately, that he  _can_  protect Matthew. He wants to become someone who can do it. That is his resolution.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On tonight's chapter: Something happened to Corvo, Matt is suspicious for reasons, and Dom is on his first mission!

Dom had not heard much from Corvo while he continues in his training. But when he did, it was through an unlikely source. Matt woke him up early to witness it himself, the look on his face was more than enough to snap him out of sleep to see what was wrong.  
  
When he heard and watched about the earthquake, and then the tsunami, everybody is nervous, scared, stressed out, worried. And they have good reason to. The north-eastern part of Japan had not only just experienced one of the strongest earthquakes recorded in modern time, but also a tsunami that brought about more destruction and fatalities than the earthquake did. To add fuel to the proverbial fire, both natural disasters brought about a human made one in the form of a nuclear power station meltdown and a massive evacuation.  
  
It was a mind-numbing event, to watch that all happen as he watches it on the TV news with Matt, from the safety of their home on the other side of the planet. Yet even that cannot stop the chill running down his spine as the water swept towards inland with a destructive force, his fingers tightening his hold with Matt’s.  
  
Hope slowly emerged and came when many people in Japan started responding, going to Twitter and various other social media websites. It was even more so when many celebrities and artists confirm that they’re safe and sound, and did their best to remain active and do what they can to help others.  
  
Dom is relieved the most when after refreshing the website several times a few hours later, Corvo, who is M, started responding and tweeting in Japanese and English. He was in a radio show in Tokyo with his guitarist and drummer, Till and Link, respectively, when the earthquake happened. When they tweeted that they are confirmed to be fine, it’s hard to blame of the relief and the subsequent wait as they each try to find whether their friends and families are safe too.  
  
Soon enough, their voices will be drowned out among the hundreds of thousands, until something will stop it, such as their phones no longer have battery powers, the heavy traffic that becomes too much for the servers to handle, or simply the mental and physical exhaustion in staying up so late to do almost everything at once.  
  
It doesn’t take long for Red Cross to start accepting donations, and several well-known musicians in Japan have started their own donation and charity drives, all to help those that suffered the most from the catastrophe. When Dom donates a large amount of money into Red Cross, nobody raised up any voices or suspicions. They followed suit after Dom. They do it to help and because they have such fond memories of Japan.  
  
Dom can only hope that soon, that same strength and resilience that the Japanese have shown will make Corvo reappear. He thinks that the other Assassins are maybe thinking the same thing as he does towards him, standing strong against whatever comes.  
  
\-----  
  
For the past few months, after climbing the tower with Corvo, Dom has been on a workout routine. Each new lesson means adding some more new techniques to master. Each new skill that he learns brings better ways for him to navigate through routes that he’d previously been unable to. Communicating with his mentor always ends up with new challenges that Corvo encourages Dom to practice and learn.  
  
There was time for him to worry about his mentor’s wellbeing and how he is doing back home, but at the same time, even without his words of advice, Dom knows that it is better to concentrate and keep on training.  
  
If the others were to see it now, they wouldn’t believe what he is doing with his mornings, even before the sun rises. They won’t be far from wrong to assume that their drummer was replaced by some exercise freak. Albeit one with an unusual training regimen.  
  
He wakes up at 3:45 in the morning, washing himself and having a light breakfast. At 4AM, he does pushups, pull ups, crunches etc. and that was just the warmup. By 4:30 AM, he leaves his home and jogs towards the city, climbing up to the rooftops and jumping from building to building.  
  
In the time spent running and climbing through the city in this manner, he knows where the best cafes are from the rooftops. He knows almost every nook and cranny of the city, if only to avoid being seen by or take a quick getaway from the police and prying eyes.  
  
He did something that he’d never thought was possible in his life, and it is that he has mapped out the city of Nice by climbing to high places for a bird’s eye view of it and running into places that not many can peer into due to the darkness.  
  
At 5:30 AM, he can already hear and see people coming out in preparation of waking the city up. 10 minutes later, he is seen on the ground, jogging in the park or around the city.  
  
He returns home at 6:30, in need of a shower, a second breakfast, and probably a nap or more exercise. Dom thinks that he is starting to sound delirious if the fact that two and a half hours of exercising is  _just not enough_.  
  
He does compensate by treating himself twice a week. Wine, meat and cheese is more appealing after working up an appetite for it. So is ice cream. So is the occasional visit from Matt and the others.  
  
\-----  
  
Of course, it has to come into account that when touring season comes, Dom has to compromise and work out a way to continue to do his training. It brought about shorter times in doing them, whether when he just woke up or they are preparing on the stage.  
  
He’s pretty sure that Tom has more than enough footages of him doing pull ups and push ups whenever possible in various dressing rooms, with a shot of his arse always there.  
  
When they have much more free time while staying in some countries and the coast is clear, Dom takes his time out into exploring the city much more than the average tourist does. Each new town or city where the band goes and stays for a while means new places for Dom to explore.  
  
To give Dom a challenge and to help him learn to navigate, Corvo has given him a list of places that he should climb up. Dom isn’t stupid when he has noticed that a lot of them are historical buildings, listed and protected and whatnot.  
  
For someone who has a love and respect towards history, the Japanese Assassin seems to have little to no qualms in using buildings of historical and cultural heritage as viewpoints and to climb to their highest spots. To watch down from above like a preying bird, surveying the area below them.  
  
However, he has to learn to maintain the time for he can’t stay out for too long or stray too far away from the hotel without bringing in suspicions. Or when they share rooms, he has to keep his exercise to a minimum of push-ups. The worst is that now that he and Matt are a couple, compromise has become a necessity to ward off suspicion. To that end, he has to cut down on the time he spends on training and takes on the challenge to do a few specific exercises once every few times.  
  
Each time he almost got caught, whether by the local police or their road crew, was an adventure in itself. He isn’t going to lie that he gets a little thrill every time he managed to escape their attention on what he was doing, and they are none the wiser on his disappearance. If they ask, his answers are that he stayed in the party for a bit longer or he went out for a night walk. Both excuses are shown with disapproval, but they believed it nonetheless.  
  
He can’t help it. The exhilaration that is given to him by running and jumping and leaping and climbing, it wasn’t the same as beating and pedalling various drums. It wasn’t the same as just getting on an airplane or a ship or a car or go anywhere. He isn’t using money to get him from one place to the next, he is using his hands and feet, the momentum of movement and his mind to decide where to go next on the fly.  
  
It made him feel invincible-- No, the feeling of being  _free_ , unrestricted to how he should move. He can run up a city vertically, and on the rooftops, it is but a vast expanse, a new route without people from the streets below.  
  
The best part of it all is to just climb up to high places, and see the cities in a completely different view. It is a spectacular sight to see it at night, when the lights illuminate the landscape and skylines that can be appreciated by its sheer size and majesty. Dom likes it even more if he spots something that can cushion his fall and allow him to perform the leap of faith. When he really feels like it, he pulls out his phone and takes a few pictures of himself while standing or crouching down on top of buildings.  
  
It doesn’t mean that no one has paid attention to Dominic, particularly towards his body.  
  
\-----  
  
Dom seems to have taken more effort in building his body into shape, Matt has noticed ever since that they are together. Not the kind where it’s all grotesque muscles and diets high in protein and carbs, but more in a natural way in which he slowly but surely looked more fit than him, Chris, Morgan and Tom. And that says a lot.  
  
He’s not complaining about it. After all, the wine just got finer in his opinion.  
  
There were those times when the blond is stripping his sweaty stage clothes off before getting a shower and clean clothes, and Matt can see those ab muscles  _ripple_. Or when he just came out of the bathroom, with some droplets of water travelling down his chest and abdomen, teasing him at the ridges and bumps of developing muscles.  
  
It excites and terrifies Matt for reasons that cannot be explained properly other than  _holy shit._  
  
For whatever reason Dom is doing with his alleged claim of learning freerunning, it is certainly doing a fine job of turning him into an even more gorgeous specimen than he’d realised.  
  
To think that he is in a relationship, an actual honest-to-god proper relationship with the drummer, and he is noticeably getting sexier the more time that he has spent with him. His brain must have missed out some details about the physical features of Dom until he is actually dating him, or the blond is genuinely taking efforts to keep his body in shape.  
  
Honestly, it gives Matt more opportunities to poke at Dom, both for fun and for his curiosity. He wonders if they can change the stage show antics to have that one bit to dare Dom to rip his shirt apart. To see if he can do it, of course, after he teases Dom to take the dare. Chris would have some disapproval, but everyone will go crazy for it.  
  
All the cameras will be on the drummer. The large, wide screen on stage will be on Dom’s fine muscled body, a torn shirt just barely hanging by his hips. The strength and daring to achieve such a feat. Those strong hands that can rip a shirt apart that can also be holding his body up the against wall with such  _ease_ \--  
  
“Matt, you’re drooling,” Matt snaps out from staring at the blond, glaring at Chris as he wipes his drool away. Chris chooses to smirk back. Thank the gods that Tom and his camera is not around.  
  
He looks back at Dom, now leaving the room to go wash himself, his muscled, sweaty back and well-rounded arse facing Matt.  
  
Stupid sexy Dom.  
  
\------  
  
Dom has his first mission. Mind, it is his first  _solo_  mission.  
  
It’s a simple one that was handed over to him by Corvo. Steal some info via hacking from a target in a charity event in London that he and Matt are also going to be in. Poppy will be assisting him by communications via an earpiece that is invisible to many but to a close observer.  
  
Aside from Poppy on communications, the mission is easy in that it didn’t require anyone else to assist him. All he needed is the phone provided to him by the Assassins, and himself to be present in the event.  
  
No fighting. No fancy show off of his training. What all the training that he has done has not, however, provide him the confidence that he won’t botch this mission up, no matter how easy it is.  
  
 _“Nervous, Dominic?”_  Poppy asks, after making sure that the earpiece is working.  
  
“Yeah,” Dom gulps, his eyes darting around. At first, he was looking forward to do this to be able to prove that he can do this. Now, he is apprehensive and wishing that he can join along the others into getting drunk already. “Kind of wish that I can take some liquid courage first.”  
  
 _“It’s okay Dominic, I’m right here with you. Anything that happens, just call me, okay?”_  Poppy reassures him.  
  
“Dom, feeling all right?” the drummer looks up, seeing Matt giving him a smile and tangles his fingers with Dom’s hand on his thigh. During the time that he was communicating with Poppy, he was unaware of Matt who he thought was talking to somebody next to him. Or was he pretending to watch what people were doing on the stage?  
  
“Yeah, I’m okay,” he replies, nodding. “This charity event is boring me out. We’re not even performing, or enjoying this.” He isn’t lying about that. The speeches almost bore him to tears and he spotted that almost everybody else thought the same thing as he did. If it weren’t for the fact that this charity organisation is well regarded, these people would have chosen to do something else.  
  
“We can wait it out until we can party with our friends after this event. Or… we can skip this posh gig and go for the pub instead, if you want,” Matt says coyly, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Dom chuckles at that, almost wanting to laugh out loud at Matt’s attempts to be seductive. It worked though, so there’s no flaw in that. He isn’t going to be alone in this, that’s for sure.  
  
“Give the show half an hour?” Dom suggests. Matt squeezes his hand and turns his attention back to the old lady on stage, still reminiscent of her past stories.  
  
 _“Earth to Dominic, are you done with your little flirting session?”_  Fuck, Poppy heard it.  
  
“Erm… How can I see where the target is?” Dom murmurs, changing the subject back to the mission. He knows that the earpiece can pick his voice up.  
  
 _“Use your senses. Your eyes will see soon enough,”_  Poppy reminds him with a calm but solid voice. Following that advice, Dom closes his eyes, concentrates as hard as possible and think what he needs to see, and opens his eyes to see his surroundings in a different perspective.  
  
Ever since that accidental discovery that one morning, Corvo has been explaining to him what Eagle Vision is and teaching him on how to use it to his advantage.  
  
He’d been told to put effort and concentration into learning how to use his Sixth Sense, or Eagle Vision, as it’d long been called for the Assassins. It was hard at first because he had no idea what it’s like to activate it at will, let alone witness its true powers and usefulness. In its basic form, as Corvo taught him, it is an enhanced sense, an ultra-perception that identifies what his brain identifies what he should think is interesting and pay attention to: locked doors, hidden switches, the police, suspicious individuals, invisible paint, chalk drawn art on the asphalt etc.  
  
Only until he’d seen these telltale signs that he managed to activate it thanks to Corvo’s teaching did he finally managed to start to use it. He finds that his Eagle Vision starts out as a momentary vision that soon fades away, like a pulse that tires him out, needing time to let his eyes recover before being able to use it again. But he can see what the vision shows, colour coded for his convenience.  
  
The exhaustion is considered normal for those starting to use it, according to the Japanese Assassin, especially since it is a dormant type of sense that most people like Dom has to learn it. It takes a lot of focus and concentration that unsurprisingly wears him out quickly from the effort it takes to see what most others normally don’t.  
  
The only times when Eagle Vision works a lot better for Dom is under conditions where it is dark or dim enough to use it for longer periods of time. Wearing a hood or a hat can help prolong the use and range of the vision as it works better without the glaring lights from above, but practice is what helps to improve its uses as time progresses on. Drinking alcohol, on the other hand, doesn’t because using the vision requires a lot of concentration, hence why Dom can’t go drunk until the mission is done.  
  
On the other hand, there are some lucky bastards that have had it since they were young, such as Corvo who claims that he has it for as long as he’d remembered. Growing up and learning by himself on what to do with it, he simply fine-tuned his senses to the point that he is an effective tracker. And he doesn’t tire from prolonged use of Eagle Vision.  
  
Right now, Dom finds that that pulse is strong enough to reach to the few tables around him, and luckily he finds his target just sitting a couple of tables away from his own. Seeing her shine in gold meant that at least she isn’t dangerous to him or anyone in the party, just what his brain senses.  
  
He pulls the phone provided to him out and with a few clicks here and there using a backdoor system installed as an app into the device, he has located the files in the phone that the target is carrying. With no more time to spare, he presses the button and lets the phone do all the work in downloading the files.  
  
All he has to do is to sit back and wait.  
  
In a few minutes into the charity party, he finds the wait to be agonising.  
  
The broadband signal in the room is weak, and seeing that he has 10 minutes before the files will be completely transferred makes it all the more stressful. He can’t move away to a safer place to continue the download too without letting an alert go off or have the download be disrupted.  
  
To not let anyone off of any suspicious actions, and to kill time, Dominic pays attention to the person on the podium speaking. The boring old lady has left the podium, and is replaced by an equally boring middle-aged man with a combover and an unnaturally orange tan on his face and skin.  
  
Suddenly, Dom would rather have something else to distract him than to stare at an abomination of a man talking on stage, making some very awkward and rude jokes to force some response out of the crowd. Apparently, Matt shares the same opinion and has a far better idea to use their time.  
  
He can feel Matt's hand slowly slipping up from his knee to his thigh, then to what the singer has been prizing after, rubbing it with obvious intentions. Matt gives his crotch a good squeeze, and Dom almost rolled his eyes to the back of skull, biting his lips.  
  
His hands, busy gripping on the phone and seat cushion, allow Matt free reign to keep going, but Dom’s eyes on the singer are silently pleading “No”. Both Matt’s eyes and hands say “Yes”, showing lust to the drummer in response. The lighting is not responsible for Matt’s full-blown pupils. The singer scoots his chair closer to Dom and other than a few that got their attention broken, they didn’t bother to stop him.  
  
The whole situation is not the best of times to get horny for Dom, not in his  _first mission_  of all things. Matt whispering the dirty things that he wants to do with him makes it worse. There’s so much that can go wrong from falling into this temptation. His carnal desires, however, do not have the least of worries about that. It rather welcomes the familiar touch from Matt, and it knows that it’s been more than a week since Dom had a rendezvous with the other.  
  
 _Only a few more minutes_ , he pleads inwardly, gripping the phone tighter. How long are those few more minutes though? Three? Five? Is the network connection not strong enough to make the download go faster?  
  
Matt’s dirty suggestions is getting blood to travel down south, leaving some left to make his face flush. And make it harder to resist against it.  
  
Get a blowjob under the table? Fuck  _ye--_  
  
 _“Congratulations, Dominic,"_  he is startled back to reality by Poppy's voice, quickly pushing Matt’s hand away from his cock.  _"The files are now in our hands, so you can rest easy and enjoy the the rest of the party.”_  Dom might not be able to prove it, but he can visualise Poppy just smirking at him. There is absolutely no mistake that she’d heard the conversation between him and Matt then, and now knows what’s going on between him and Matt.  
  
When Matt looks at him confusingly, Dom gives his hand a squeeze and juts his head to where the exit door is. Picking up the message, Matt grins and excuses himself for the restroom.  
  
“Can I not do this by myself the next time?” he asks after Matt left, letting his mind think some disgusting thoughts. _Orange-skin combover man making out with old lady on the stage_. He shudders, but it worked to keep his boner down, if possible for the time being.  
  
 _“We’ll see to that,_ ” Poppy answers.  _“Have a good evening, Dominic.”_  
  
“Cheers,” Dom pulls the earpiece off of his ear and quickly shoves it into his pocket, standing up and going to the restroom too, in hot pursuit of the other man. Now that his mission is done, he can deal with Matt’s offer of skipping the charity event. It is actually a very good offer to boot.  
  
\-----  
  
Somewhere a couple of blocks away from where the charity event is held, a discreet van is parked there as with any other vehicles that are there. Its outward appearance shows nothing, but the inside shows activity, with only one person in there to man it.  
  
Poppy sighs. She briefly wonder if Dom had been aware that he’d forgotten to turn the earpiece off in his haste to take it off and chase after another man. She knew how important her task for communications is, and what that includes. Subjects that can seem mundane, but reveal to be something of importance, whether they are linked to their main objectives or not.  
  
It’s not as if she’d not suspected of what is Dom’s relationship between him and Matt are like. She had some suspicions that were picked up from talking with him a few times before. This was certainly not the way that she wanted to know what their relationship status is now.  
  
She takes the very sensible choice of turning the machine off and pulls the headphones off of her. There is no point to mute it or anything. Dom had finished his mission properly. They got the files. She was done for the night, and can’t be bothered to know what their Assassins going as field agents do post-mission.  
  
Poppy is not sure whether is she the luckiest or unluckiest person to take a job like communications during missions like these. But she sure as hell knows that this particular mission is an awkward one even after years of doing this.  
  
\-----  
  
The warmth, the comfort, the softness surrounding his body makes it so hard to open his eyes. He is no longer in the deep sleep, but Dom wants to savour that feeling while he can in his aware state of mind before he is allowed to go back to his previous state.  
  
Yet there’s something that makes it hard to ignore what is happening in his awakened state of mind. A cold, rectangular object on his chest. Soft, ticklish fingers surrounding the area of the rectangular object. The sounds of another breathing human close by, close to him.  
  
With reluctance and a groan, Dom opens his eyes. He is greeted by the sight of pale skin and brunet hair.  _Beautiful_ , is the first word that comes to mind. Last night was worth it to wake up with a satisfied sensation after going through a mission in a boring as hell event that they had to attend.  
  
“Matt, what are you doing?” Dom asks, his voice sounding gravelly from having to wake up.  
  
“I was recording your heartbeat,” Matt pouts, pulling the cold object that he now sees is the brunet’s iPhone off of his chest. “Now you ruined it by talking.”  
  
“Sorry,” Dom chuckles, pulling his head up to share a morning kiss with his lover. “But recording my heartbeat? Really?”  
  
“You have a fantastic rhythm,” Matt admits, deleting the ruined track. “That even hearing your heart beating made one that I couldn’t resist recording it down. But you ruined it, and now I want to record a new one.”  
  
Dom can’t help but smile at that. Trust Matt to just do something as silly as this and still make him happy by it.  
  
“What are you going to do with it?” Dom asks, curious.  
  
Matt makes a noise. “Dunno, maybe put it into a song for our next album?”  
  
“You’re going to make that work?”  
  
“Of course I can make that work,” Matt scoffs, a grin appearing. “We used my trouser zippers and clapped ‘tits’ in Morse code before, what is this going to be any different?  
  
“Plus, I want to have a song or two with your heart beat in it,” his grin turns into a soft smile. “When you listen to it, you can have a laugh at it, but at the same time, know that it is there for a reason, you know?”  
  
There’s something within Dom that seems to warm up upon hearing that. It isn’t just from what Matt plans to do with his heartbeat, but also something else. Something mundane that could be easily overlooked.  
  
 _I’ve been waking up with something like this for months now_ , Dom has realised and still can’t get over the fact that he now wakes up with Matt next to him almost every day. That he falls asleep at night cuddling the brunet, his body craving for another source of warmth that is close by and right there. And it’s still bloody amazing.  
  
If Matt does want to go with this idea, he’s not going to stop him. In fact, Dom would rather support and help him to make this a reality. If they succeed in doing that… well, it’s certainly a really personal song for the both of them.  
  
“What are you thinking about there, Dom?” Matt asks, staring at him with curiosity and amusement.  
  
Dom can't help but give a kiss to his lover.  
  
“Only you, Matthew Bellamy, can come out with ideas like that,” he whispers huskily. Matt leans in for a deeper, more lingering kiss in response.  
  
“Of course I can. Now shush, I want no other noises in this recording,” the singer insists, pressing the phone against his chest once more on top of his beating heart.  
  
Dom smiles on, and allows his lover to continue on his endeavour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case you were wondering, the earthquake and tsunami that was written there is literally based from the March 11th Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami event that happened. So yes, the timeline has now shifted to 2011.   
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holy fuck, it's been a while since I last posted anything! Now, on tonight's chapter: Dom dreams, then ends up in a fighting ring, then meets a giant, and finally gets introduced to the rest of Corvo's bandmates.

_The first thing he notices is the smell of the sea and tobacco._  
   
_The sea spray intermingling with biting cold winds blowing towards the coast. The sky is coloured grey and turns the town into a miserable place as he’d always remembered. Yet he no longer stands here as some grungy teenager with long flowing locks of blond hair, but rather as a young adult, his hair cut into a crew cut and still a bit starry-eyed by the events that happened weeks ago._  
   
_Coming down to Teignmouth for a weekend with their families, it was after dinner that he and Matt meet up and decided to spend their time by the pier. They each have a cigarette on their fingers, looking out at the sea._  
   
_“So,” Matt starts._  
   
_“So,” Dom repeats._  
   
_“Our first album will be out soon.”_  
   
_“Yeah,” Dom grins._  
   
_“We’re signed to an American label too, with Red Hot Chilli Peppers in it.”_  
   
_“Yeah.”_  
   
_Matt’s face scrunches into a scowl, putting the cigarette on his lips to take a few puffs. “Fuck. Pinch me, Howard. Right here and now. This is too much to believe that it’s not a dream.”_  
   
_He wishes to do what Matt requested, if to make the brunette yowl in pain for his enjoyment more than to fulfil said request. But for some reason, something compels him not to._  
   
_“No thanks,” Dom shakes his head. “Or else it will be the saddest dream ever that I didn’t get to shag those birds that we saw at the party in LA weeks ago.”_  
   
_That elicits an amused noise and a grin from Matt. “The taste of a rockstar, and you’re already hooked.”_  
   
_Dom can only grin at that. It wasn’t much of it, since all of them were nervous wrecks there. But it was more than enough to convince himself that yes, this is what he is looking forward to when they get successful._  
   
_They turn their attention back to the raging sea in front of them, taking some puffs from their ever slow burning cigarettes._  
   
_They may have hated their lives in the small seaside town as young adults tend to be, but part of it became their spirit. To think of it in a metaphorical sense, one has to look at Matt’s eyes. As blue as clear skies, as fierce as the sea that crashes against the coast, as cold as the biting winds from the sea. Matthew Bellamy, Dom thinks, is what encompasses what they have grown up with in a small town. In that boredom and frustration, creativity was born and talent was hard-honed._  
   
_“Hey, Bells,” Dom says to get the brunette’s attention._  
   
_“Yeah?”_  
   
_“What’s the biggest dream that you want to happen? It’s not going to be absurd to hear it,” Dom suggests. “We have a way and have gotten out of Teignmouth, for a start.”_  
   
_For a while, he gets nothing out of the smaller man. He almost thought couldn’t hear Matt’s response under the howling wind._  
   
_“I want us to play in Reading Festival,” Matt answers softly, but his voice gives away how steady and serious he said those words. “The first festival that we ever went to and saw Rage.”_  
   
_Dom’s lips quirk up into a smirk. “Nah. We should go bigger than that.”_  
   
_“Like what?” Matt asks, an eyebrow raised._  
   
_“Let’s not just play in the festival. Let’s be the_ main act _of Reading Festival. Play on the same stage that Rage Against The Machines were on.”_  
   
_Matt stares at him in a mix of awe and disbelief, then shakes his head._  
   
_“You’re out of your mind, Dom. And we haven’t even touched the shrooms yet.” Matt giggles, pulling something out of his pocket. He shakes the clear plastic bag filled with the dried, magical mushrooms. They were saving it until they can meet up with Chris and Tom for their own little party to celebrate._  
   
_“Go big or go home, Bells,” Dom smirks. “Reading Festival will be the mark of our highlight as Muse.”_  
   
_Matt shakes his head as he drops and step on his cigarette butt. “You’re hard to please, Dominic Howard.”_  
   
_“It’ll be worth it, Matt. Trust me,” Dom says, following what Matt did before they leave._  
   
_As he walks away from the Pier with Matt, they passed by a teenager a lot younger than them. He didn’t give much thought of the person as they are crouched down on the ground by a building busy smoking, the hood obscuring their head._  
   
_Then Dom is no longer in Teignmouth, and he is surrounded by more people than he could count._  
   
_He’s older now. Not much, but enough to see where he now stands. How much bigger the crowd is compared to a few years ago. Dom looks around, trying to get some idea of where he is. Then he spots the name, and the signs that seem so familiar to him. It’s Glastonbury._  
   
_Glastonbury wasn’t Reading. No, not yet, his mind seems to think. But they can feel it. Their dream is not only becoming bigger, but more real as it goes as they conquer each one._  
   
_Yet for some reason, he can’t feel a single positive emotion for this sense of accomplishment. Then Dom looks down, and immediately he remembers why._  
   
_His father is crumpled down on the ground, his eyes closed and his face eerily calm while surrounded by a shocked audience. The drummer collapses down to his knees. He remembers now. He remembers_ which _Glastonbury Festival he is in._  
   
_The greatest live of their lives, Matt has said. It was hard to see to agree with those words while swallowing down the information that is much more tragic right in front of him._  
   
_He was suddenly pulled away from the ground, from his father, and into a strong hug. The person who is hugging him is small and lithe, yet deceptively strong. Dom hugs back Matt._  
   
_“We’re here for you, Dom,” he said simply. Dom doesn’t remember whether this happened or not, but he needed it. Soon, the two of them are surrounded by two more pair of arms. Chris and Tom are here. He needed what Matt is giving to him right now. He needed what Chris and Tom are giving to him right now._  
   
_It was too much for Dom to keep looking at his father and to his friends, so he decides to look up to the crowd. In front of the crowd stands a familiar person. A hooded young man is watching the scene, Dom noticed, standing out amongst the crowd for a missing feature on him. His left arm should’ve been there, but it’s now a bleeding stump. Dom widened his eyes at the much more horrific sight, more horrifying than his father dead on the ground._  
   
_The young man looks at him and…_  
   
_..._ And then Dom wakes up, sweat all over his body.  
   
On the next morning when he gets up properly and goes about his day, he eventually forgets the existence of the weird dream.  
   
\-----  
   
“Errrr, why are we here?” Dom asks Corvo, wary of the nasty looks that some people by the caravans are throwing at them. The first thing Corvo did upon appearing for the first time in months in England again is for him to call Dominic out and drive them to this… field with caravans. And there is a party going on that they were certainly not invited for and intruding to.  
   
“You’re going to have a fight with the Romanichal men,” Corvo answered.  
   
“Wait, what?” Dom stares at him in confusion.  
   
“British Romani. Or Gypsies if you’re still not clear about the subject here,” Corvo answers, stepping over a sleeping dog and continuing his way, Dom copying his steps along.  
   
“May I ask why?”  
   
“I must evaluate what your training progress has been so far,” Corvo answers smoothly.  
   
“By fighting Gypsies?” Dominic gives Corvo’s back an incredulous look.  
   
“They’re Romani people, Dominic,” Corvo corrects the blond. “They’re some of the best in amateur boxing, and I know a friend who still has ties to this place to find the right time and the right man to talk to.”  
   
“Are you serious about this?” If anything, the right time that they have arrived might as well be someone’s birthday party that they’re crashing into.  
   
“I do have to witness how far your fighting prowess has reached so far, no?” the younger man smirks. Soon after, they approach a rough looking old man whose eyes seem to bore holes if he looks at you long enough. That is,  _if_  he bothers to look away from his task of refilling his hip flask with whiskey.  
   
“Good day, sir,” Corvo greets. The old man eyes them warily before he stops what he is doing and speaks.  
   
“What’s a couple of lads like you doing here?” the old man asks gruffly.  
   
To that, Corvo smiles.  
   
“Came up from the South to bet that my friend here can fight your mates,” he replies, pointing at Dom with his thumb.  
   
The old man gives Dom a glance before he speaks again. “What’s it to ya two? Betting season’s off now. And you’re disturbing our party here.”  
   
“Don’t try that shite on me. I’m bettin’ my friend here that he can beat your boys and make them cry back home for their nana,” Corvo smirks. Dom, who is more than uncomfortable with the stares and glances thrown towards him, only looks down at his feet.  _Now_ they’re really nasty.  
   
“Oh really? Think that your friend with straw limbs can hold on ‘is own?” the old man scoffs. “Don’t make me laugh.”  
   
“If he does win,” Corvo leans down towards the old man with a smirk, “we’ll be the ones who are laughing the last laugh then.”  
   
The old man gives them a hard, stern stare, the kind that can make plants wither, glaring at them until he holds his hand out.  
   
“It ain’t a bet unless there’s money involved,” he finally says. “Fifty quid from old Wilson here.”  
   
“And a fifty from me then,” Corvo grasps his hand and shakes it firmly.  
   
While the old man Wilson calls out the rest of the men to prepare an impromptu ring, Corvo quickly pulls Dom away from the group of people.  
   
“They don’t always fight like boxers when they’re not in the ring, so be careful when using your expectations. You have what I taught you,” Corvo whispers to Dom’s ear.  
   
Soon enough, they are surrounded in a circle. Men, women, and even some children formed a large ring of a fighting pit for Dom and any men interested in fighting the delicate looking drummer. He can hear some of them laughing at them, and probably pointing at his lean frame.  
   
“It’s survival over winning. If you can make them back off or go down, you only just survived until the next one.”  
   
Easier said than fucking done, the drummer thinks.  
   
From the circle emerged a man much larger than Dom is, having fucking  _scars_  on his face to boot. The only thought that comes through Dom upon this is just what the fuck did Corvo expect out of him. He could barely beat Corvo in their sparring matches, so how is he expecting him to be able to fight against  _that_?!  
   
Soon enough, someone shouts “Go!” and the first match starts.  
   
When the large brute came charging head first, Dom did the logical thing that he can do in what little his mind can think of to make his body react. When the brute came close enough, he grabs the the brute’s shirt on the back, jumps up and rolls over the man, effectively dodging the charge and is behind him. His mind still in a rush, he gives a hard shove and the brute ends up on the ground on his hands and knees.  
   
The silence that came at first was worrying, until the crowd started to laugh. They weren’t laughing at Dom, but rather at the brute on the ground. The large guy is none too pleased by this, but Dom is. And this gives him some confidence to be sure now that he can do this.  
   
Thereafter, the match is in Dom’s favour.  
   
He pays attention to the stance and fighting style of the brute. In short time, he has spotted more than a few weak spots from his moves. The first thing that he notices soon after the fight started is that the large man is slower than he thought, as he is able to dodge the first hits with good timing. The second is that the large man’s mainly uses his upper body such as his arms and brute force to attack, and neglects putting up defences with his legs that can be taken down with low sweeps. The third is that with what Corvo had taught him, Dom can see how he can put the guy down with the right strategy.  
   
Soon enough, Dom has taken the approach to dodge the larger man’s strikes and hits. When the right time came, Dom takes every advantage of those small windows in time to strike punches and kicks at his opponent as hard as possible. A few more hard jabs and punches, and he got the man to back away and return to the circle, the brute having enough brains to realise that he wasn’t fighting with some small weak man, leaving Dom victorious.  
   
The crowd cheered for him. They actually cheered for him! In the corner of his eyes, he spots Corvo with his arms crossed, nodding approvingly at what he had done.  
   
It was a short-lived one when the next one appears, knuckles cracking and lips in a sneer, confident that they now know how to fight him. And a crazy look of murder in his eyes.  
   
There is no time to rest. Only a few seconds in preparing his stance and the second match begins.  
   
\-----  
   
“I’m impressed,” Corvo laughs out loud, sounding more like a maniacal cackling, smacking Dominic on the back. “I never thought that you can get as far as five men to attack you at once!”  
   
Dom winces at the smack on his back, not sure if that hurt more than the hits that he’d received from being surrounded. They are now in Wilson's caravan, the hub of activity and noise from outside already dwindling down half an hour after the fight. Dom is nursing himself with a bag of frozen peas that was thankfully provided by the old man Wilson himself.  
   
He thought he was going to die! If it weren’t for Corvo’s intervention--  
   
“I could’ve died!” he exclaims.  
   
“I’m sorry, I should’ve gone in a lot sooner,” Corvo apologises, his laughter dying down and his voice sounding sincere to his words. “I’m not lying saying that I was impressed. You pushed yourself to the limit before the intervention. You really are better than I expected. You’re a fast learner, Dominic.”  
   
Dom blinks, letting the words get absorbed into his mind before he reacts to it with a small smile. It warms Dom’s heart and mind. To have proven that he has improved, to be witnessed by someone who can see that, and to know that he did not waste anything to be here so far.  
   
“Better than you expect? He fuckin’ wrecked them if that’s what your training has done to him!” Wilson wheezes, pouring them more scotch into their glasses. “And smashed a table to boot! I never been this excited watching a match for so long!”  
   
Dom just smiles silently as he listen to the old man regale the whole event of the matches, about how Dom kicked one of the men that he’d thrown off of him right in the abdomen. And how he managed to knock two fighters out simultaneously when they decided to team up and attack him at the same time.  
   
From how Wilson is just talking like a speaker in a boxing match, he does sound like a badass to this Roma man.  
   
\-----  
   
The trip back to London is a quiet one. Dom had actually slept through the whole ride back as Corvo drove and soft music playing out from the radio lulled him to sleep, exhausted from the fight and too tired to be bothered that he is sweaty and feels dirty.  
   
He had woken up a few times. The first time is when the SatNav loudly instructed the driver to turn to the left as they got near the M25 road before Corvo lowers the volume down. The second time he opens his eyes, he sees some familiar buildings and landmarks that indicate that they are in West London. The third time is to Corvo shaking him by the shoulder from the passenger door, having arrived to the tea room while the sky is still dark.  
   
“Come on, there’s a cot down there that you can sleep much more comfortably on,” Corvo gently nudges the blond up as he helps release the safety belt.  
   
Dom willingly lets the younger man drag him up and out of the car and into the tea room, going to the basement where the tea and coffee supplies are stored, and a false wall that hides a lift to the underground hideout. In his thoughts, he thinks that maybe he should find a nickname than to mentally call it the underground hideout over and over.  
   
The blond is thankful that the younger man cares about his tired state to do this. When they arrived down in the hideout, the lights are still on and the whole place smells strongly of coffee. How odd, Dom thought. Usually Corvo is strict about turning the lights off if no one else is down here. So who is in there at this late hour, brewing coffee so strong that he can smell it from the lift?  
   
“What’s with the coffee smell?” Dom asks, now unsure if he is still sorely tempted to sleep or have caffeine up to his gills instead.  
   
“Oh, Mikey was here the day before for mission debriefing. Ventilation is still working to suck that odour out,” Corvo says nonchalantly. Now,  _that_  is odd. Who the hell is Mikey?  
   
Upon entering the main tunnel, a taller than average man (Mikey?) stood up from an armchair from nearby, walking towards them and greeting Corvo.  
   
Dom blinks as he thinks that he is far too tired and hallucinating that he is seeing a giant with white hair. He doesn’t know why but the tall man with the white hair seems like someone that he is familiar with to a certain degree because he has not met this guy before in his life.  
   
The two of them are talking while Dom slumps down on the armchair that was previously occupied by the giant before, tuning out from the voices since they are speaking in what is certainly Japanese and Dom can’t understand a lick of it.  
   
Then Corvo walks off to one of the room and left him and the freakishly tall guy alone in the large tunnel. With nothing but awkward stares and silence, the freakishly tall guy coughs and finally speaks to him.  
   
“Hello, I’m Link,” the tall man introduces himself, his deep, baritone voice undermined by the softness in how he spoke. So not Mikey then.  
   
Wait a minute… Link! Now that he thinks about it, every time he meets up and spends time with Corvo, the name Link often pops up, and his physical appearance was mentioned enough times that Dom knows that he is as strong as he is big. Plus, there is the internet, and he has seen the pictures of the band. And he has listened to their music before and has wanted to compare drumming techniques with the tall man.  
   
This is the first time that he meets the very tall friend that Corvo always mentions about, in the flesh. To say that his height and demeanour appears intimidating is an understatement. Hell, everything about him is big. He isn’t thick or buff in appearance, but the muscles on his arms and legs definitely shows that he is much like Dom as drummers go.  
   
“Holy hell, you’re huge,” Dom comments, still in awe even while seated.  
   
“I get that a lot,” Link smiles.  
   
“So what are you up to, staying up late in here?” Dom asks. Even at this hour, Poppy has long gone home and slept.  
   
“I’ve been waiting for M. I wanted to make sure he can get home safe with me,” Links smiles in a shy manner, scratching the back of his neck. Dom can see that the taller drummer is a considerate friend to the singer, though he has to admit that he doesn’t do the same to Matt that much even with their current relationship status.  
   
“It’s not like we’ve done anything naughty while we were gone,” Dom joked.  
   
“I hope that you didn’t,” Link has a grin on his face, but his voice sounds dark and slightly threatening.  
   
Dom’s chuckles dies down when he notices that Link isn’t laughing with him, giving a look at the taller man as he thinks on why Link said it like that.  
   
“The less you think about it, the sounder your sleep shall be,” Corvo says, ignoring the two of them as he walks by and goes to the computer room. “And stop threatening him. He has a boyfriend already.” Dom looks at where Link is looking, the taller man’s eyes following Corvo as the latter walks towards the computer room. He can’t discern why Link gives a lingering look even after the man has disappeared from their sight before it hits him.  
   
Oh.  _Oh._  
   
_Wow._  
   
Dom can feel the blood drain from his face.  
   
Suffice to say, Dom took some sleeping pills before bed and had a dreamless sleep till the afternoon. Lucky that Matt is in New York right now. It isn’t the good kind of sleep, but it was preferable over letting his imaginations over think itself. The answers finally came to him, at least, and he doesn’t want to get another beat up for a misunderstanding.  
   
\-----  
   
Unsurprisingly, it turns out that there is indeed a legitimate reason why Corvo is here alongside with Link in London: their band is here to kick start their European tour. Despite what happened less than a few months ago that put just about everyone in Japan in disarray, and the burden that they have between decisions of cancelling it or continue with their touring plans, they still proceeded on with the tour.  
   
And Dom has a ticket and backstage pass given to him.  
   
He got there late, as by the time when he’d arrived, the supporting band has started to leave the stage and the crew are quickly dismantling and preparing for the main act. The venue is average in size yet still retains an intimate distance between the stage and the audience, and the crowd has been packed up to its capacity. He quietly goes towards the bar, ordering some expensive as fuck beer to drink and wait for the anticipating main act.  
   
The excitement racketed up when the lights dimmed and an intro music starts playing. Five men each entered the stage one by one, until Corvo is the last to appear, and the show truly starts. The live is, in a nutshell, amazing. Dom had experienced what it is like to play music with him before. This is the first time that he witnesses Corvo up on stage, in his natural habitat as a singer. From the back of the audience, he can sense that charismatic aura that Corvo has, seeing it work as it captivates the crowd in a way that most frontmen can rarely achieve that.  
   
His lips perked up into a grin as soon as he hears a familiar riff that he has not heard from for a while since it was played at his home. Now said riff comes with the strong thrumming rhythm from the bass, enriched by another guitar with another track, and the drums completed the music. With Corvo’s voice range as a tenore spinto, it makes for an interesting variety as he hits the high and low notes with startling accuracy.  
   
Dom watches the live with amazement, finishing his beer as quick as possible in order to bang his head along to the heavier songs. If he had brought Matt along, he would be along his side, enjoying all of this.  
   
All too soon, the show is over, the encore is played out, and Corvo gives them all a gracious bow before walking off to backstage. Although the crowd has started to leave, some of them stayed where they are or approach the stage as the setup are dismantled by the crew. They looked as though they are in disbelief that the show is over, and Dom can hardly blame them when he is in the same circle as they are. Struck by the disbelief that despite it being an hour and a half show from the main act, it was over without realising how much time had passed.  
   
Dom takes it as the cue to quickly go the opposite way from the exit to search for a staff member. One backstage pass, a security check, and a few curious looks thrown at him later, Dom is by the door of the dressing room where the rest of the band are.  
   
He is greeted by the sight of a sweaty Corvo in a T-shirt, appearing barely exhausted but still high on adrenaline and smiling brightly.  
   
“Dominic, you’re here!” Corvo greets him. “Come in. Welcome to our temporary abode before we must leave for better ones.”  
   
Dom smiles back and walks in... And immediately takes a step back when an unopened beer bottle is thrown from behind the singer, aimed towards Corvo’s head. In the instance that he took to avoid the impact of the bottle, he witnesses Corvo automatically catches the bottle without even seeing it. Instead of reacting immediately at whoever threw the bottle at him, Corvo calmly checks the bottle of beer and then frowns.  
   
“Till, you ruined a decent bottle of beer, you bastard,” he chastises said bandmate after inspecting the bottle, who merely shrugs in response and downs his own drink. The singer grimaces and throws the ruined beer into the bin. He hands Dom over a new bottle.  
   
“The bastard who just threw and ruined a decent bottle of beer is our guitarist, Till,” Corvo introduces to Dom. The guy who appears to be of mixed race, with Asian and European physical features on his face, waved at Dom with a bottle in his hand. “And our second guitarist, Haru.” A young man with chestnut dyed hair waved at him too before quickly settling back to his DS.  
   
“You’ve met Link before just the day before,” Corvo points his thumb at the tall drummer who is busy chugging down a bottle of water, sweat still visible on his body.  
   
“And that’s Yasushi over there. Our bassist,” Corvo’s thumb next points to a silent man with shoulder length hair, calmly greeting Dom with a nod.  
   
“I almost forgot to talk about that first mission you had. You did a good job, though I can’t blame you for how nervous you were,” Corvo throws him a dirty smile. “Still, you could’ve turned your earpiece off before your rendezvous with Matthew in the restroom...”  
   
Dom’s eyes widened and his throat feels constricted, both from the shock that Corvo is talking about his first mission so openly and the embarrassment that the whole room now knows of the shag he had with Matt in the toilet stall.  
   
“Hey, it’s alright there. Nothing to worry about. It’s safe to talk about these things around with us,” Corvo chuckles and pats his shoulder, having picked up the silent message from Dom’s panicked expression quickly.  
   
“They know the secret?” Dom asks, eying at him. Aside from Link, he barely knows if anyone else in the room knew it.  
   
“Of course we know,” Till scoffs, finally speaking. “You’re in a room filled with Assassins. Why’d you think we know where he goes off to or who is the new one that joined us?”  
   
If Dom is not as shocked at the beer bottle thrown at Corvo previously, he’s shocked now at something he didn’t know. Of course they weren’t stupid to not know where their vocalist goes off to nor of his other profession.  
   
“You didn’t tell me that the rest of your band are Assassins.” Dom says, throwing a suspicious glance at the vocalist.  
   
“I think I did before?” Corvo raises an eyebrow.  
   
“No. You said nothing of that sort at all.”  
   
Corvo gives a blank face. “Huh, guess I didn’t then.”  
   
“He tends to forget telling it to the others about it,” a voice calls out. Both men turn their attention to Haru, who quickly hides his face behind his DS.  
   
“He’s right. Some people like you met me while I’m by myself, and I barely mention about the rest of them,” Corvo explains. “It’s a sort of safety measurement that I have to prevent others taking advantage of it, if it makes any sense. Isn’t that right, Haru?”  
   
Haru only seems to yelp out a surprise in response of his name being mentioned.  
   
“Is he alright?” Dom asks.  
   
“Haru is shy because of his fluency in English is not that good yet,” Corvo explains it. “He’s practicing and trying though, so someday he wouldn’t have to act shy around others just because of it.”  
   
“I’m sorry,” Haru peeks up from his game console shyly. “I am not as good as M here.”  
   
“You shouldn’t be ashamed, that’s pretty impressive there if Corvo -or M- says so,” Dom says in an encouraging tone. Hell, the fact that they all can speak and act normally around him is already a bonus in the first place. No language barrier issues.  
   
Soon, he got Corvo to join him outside after his introduction to the rest of the band. The roadies and techs are busy loading up the equipment to the truck while they stay by the shadows of an alley.  
   
“So, why did you ask me to come out here?” Corvo asks.  
   
Dom turns to look at him. “Are you alright, Corvo?”  
   
Corvo makes a face, confused. “Yeah. Why did you ask that?”  
   
“More than a month after… what happened, and you guys are out here for a tour. Those are some balls you guys have there,” Dom says, pulling a cigarette and lighter out.  
   
“It’s not as bad as it is, since we know how to deal and go through that shit,” Corvo shrugs. “Still, it was pretty terrifying because it was an enormous one, especially when you read about the accounts of those who experienced it themselves.” He tries to smile even as his shoulders sagged. “The saddest stories come from teenagers that just graduated from high school. To have finished a part of their lives only to have a disaster to destroy their hopes, their dreams, and their loved ones...”  
   
The both of them stayed silent at that.  
   
Corvo takes a deep breath. “To be so close yet so far away from where it happened, is kind of hard to comprehend. We went there to see it for ourselves, helped out in some places that are not affected by the radiation leak that bad. After that, we were packing up and ready to perform once more.”  
   
“Are you guys alright with that decision though? To be here on a tour?” Dom asks.  
   
It takes a while for Corvo to think up on how to answer that question. “It was hard, but our friends and family encouraged us to go on for the fans. Plus, it gave us the opportunity to spend some time away from the stress of it,” Corvo says. “Besides, the tickets were already sold out, and doing refunds and rescheduling the tour dates would’ve been too much of a hassle. It was either that, or cancel out the whole tour and disappointing the fans.”  
   
“They wouldn’t have minded after the earthquake and tsunami,” Dom points out.  
   
Corvo shrugs again. “Yeah, but neither choices of changing the tour dates or cancelling it were good options presented to us to start with. So we went on a vote and decided to go on with the tour as planned. We weren’t sick or anything, just in shock. We’re tough, more than you think so.”  
   
Dom hums as he nods, keeping an eye on the other. The person standing in front of him may be an outstanding vocalist, but also his Assassin mentor. His body posture is relaxed and confident, yet his eyes tell a different story. What horrors did he saw when he went to the hard struck areas, Dom may never know. But he has seen the impact that has brought down upon not only to Corvo, but possibly to the rest of his bandmates still in the dressing room.  
   
All he can say to the younger man is, “I’m glad that you’re alright, Corvo.”  
   
Corvo nods, giving a soft grin. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”  
   
“So… What are you guys going to do now?” Dom asks, even though at the back of his mind as a seasoned musician, he knew what will be expected.  
   
“We’re packing up. Tonight is a hotel night. Tomorrow is an early morning train trip across the Channel and take over Europe!” he cackles loudly.  
   
Dom can only grin as he takes another hit of tobacco and nicotine. He truly need not to worry much of him. He has his bandmates, despite one of them almost killed him with a projectile bottle. A rock band slash travelling rove of Assassins? If it isn’t a unique but dangerous combination, he doesn’t know what else to think of it as.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who the hell is Mikey?
> 
> And I just realised as I edited this chapter, that I accidentally created a book ends for this chapter. It starts and ends with Dom smoking. LOL


	12. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I actually have planned on making this certain chapter an interlude, but still follows the story through. This interlude actually has a reference to a fic series that I love to read from dolce_piccante, and am sad that it stopped updating and even recently no longer appear on their LJ. It doesn't feel like a reference as it now feels more like a memorial of sorts. But anyway, you wanna know what's so special about this particular interlude? **Pool Sex**. That is all.

When Dom woke up, his mind is reeling with thoughts on how to spend time with Matt returning to his--  _their_  London house. Matt had moved in with him before the lease to his flat ended in spring.  
   
It’s nice to be back since previous leg of the tour was over and the vacation they had returned from just last night, he thought that as he rolls over to a nice sight to see almost every day. Even if Matt is sleeping with his back facing him right now. He pulls himself closer towards Matt and gives a few kisses on his neck and shoulder.  
   
Once he hears some mumbles from the brunette from his actions, did he gently nudged Matt to lay on his stomach and he lies flat on top of him. It was a peculiar thing that Matt loves him to do for some reason. Dom is willing to indulge him on that, however. It has its perks in it.  
   
“Mornin’,” Matt mutters, turning to him and kissing him softly.  
   
“Good morning,” he greets back.  
   
“Got something to do this early in the day?” Matt asks, sighing in content and obviously liking the weight on top of him.  
   
“I have more than a few planned for us,” Dom says, suggestively grinding his morning wood down against Matt’s boxer-clad arse.  
   
Said idea is that they will spend time cuddling in bed, have slow morning sex, and then do whatever they want for the rest of the day. If they’re willing to leave the house by the evening, a nice dinner and a pint at the nearby pub would suffice.  
   
What he did not want to wake up to was to buzzing and ringing phones, dozens of messages, missed calls and voicemails all demanding their attentions. Dom almost jumped off his skin and from Matt. When he finally picks up his phone and answers to Glen, the words that came out of their manager’s mouth effectively ruined both his boner and his day.  
   
Currently, he is at the kitchen island bar, busy fielding several calls from friends, family, and the label management almost simultaneously alongside with Matt who is doing the same thing upstairs.  
   
The incriminating photos that he is glaring on the laptop is not making it go away from the internet any time soon. It was there for the whole world to see. There is also no way that they can leave the house without having to face whatever now lurks outside there, waiting with their cameras for them to emerge.  
   
The last call was from his mother, and he had to agree to come down to Teignmouth for a family dinner with Matt. He is thirty four and his mother had seen the brunette so many times since they were teenagers, and yet she was insistent on a family dinner as though she had never met him in the first place.  
   
 _That’s because you’d never brought him home as your boyfriend_ , she said while gushing on the phone of how lovely the two of them are together. She sounded as though Dom is a teenager all over, and the drummer wishes that he is a teenager again to be able to groan in embarrassment and run to the safety of his bedroom to save himself from further humiliation.  
   
However, Dom will rather take the massive humiliation from his mum and his close friends any day than listening to what the suits from their label management say of their relationship. To hell with them and their ‘concerns’ for the band, their words only made him see red and almost yell at them at their hollow words.  
   
Dom was tempted to just throw his phone to the wall when the next person rang up. He’s hoping that the next caller will be a lot kinder in their words after what he’d gone through so far. The name of said caller is trusted to be so in Dom’s opinion. As soon as he answers it, Dom immediately reverses said good opinion.  
   
“Wow, Dominic, I can’t believe that you and Matthew are officially a couple now,” Corvo says after laughing nonstop through the phone for a minute. “In the eyes of the public,” he quickly adds after laughing some more.  
   
“I didn’t expect this to happen!” Dom hisses, keeping an eye and an ear to check if Matt is still upstairs dealing with his phone too. Despite being known as a charming and patient man, both his patience and his temper are running on low right now, and getting laughed at is only lowering it.  
   
“What? Have a holiday in the Greek Islands during the tourist season and you don’t expect the paparazzi to not intrude your privacy and your little fun time?”  
   
“It was far away from the town! It was a private villa!” Dom says in a defensive tone. “It’s a private property. How can they do that?!”  
   
Corvo snorts. “Yeah, as though that stopped them from stalking the two of you around in Mykonos--”  
   
“Santorini,” Dom corrects him, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. If it weren’t for those damning photos, it wouldn’t have left a bad taste on what is and should be a nice holiday spent with his lover.  
   
\-----  
   
 _“A house, all for ourselves!” Matt declares, grinning ear to ear like a child upon unlocking the door and entering their accommodation._  
   
 _“It’s a villa,” Dom gently corrects him as he pulls his suitcase into the white and blue building._  
   
 _It had been a carefully planned out holiday trip. Although Dom told Matt where they were going, he did all the work in getting a place to stay, rent a car, set up a loose itinerary of sorts. The private villa is far away from the main town of Firá, but still accessible by car._  
   
 _He knew that he picked the right place to say once he takes a look at both the villa and the view that came with it. The view from high on top of the hills shows farming fields from lower, flatter grounds, and the deep blue waters of the Aegean Sea. From the distance of the sea, large ferries and yachts of various size dotted on the blue waters sparsely here and there._  
   
 _In short, a beautiful view to enjoy during the day._  
   
 _His thoughts are quickly distracted by Matt’s voice._  
   
 _“Dom, look! A pool!”_  
   
 _It didn’t take long that they are soon in the swimming pool, with Matt swimming around for a bit while Dom is basking in the sunlight by the corner, a pair of aviators obscuring his eyes. He closes his eyes, the only noises in the background are that of water sloshing around his body, and Matt swimming around the small, rectangular private pool. He only opens them when he stops hearing Matt swimming and notices Matt staring at him._  
   
 _“What are you looking at?” Dom asks, sliding his sunglasses down his nose a bit._  
   
 _“Looking at a great view,” Matt answers, his eyes bright and joyful._  
   
 _“It is a great view of the landscape from here,” Dom agrees, turning back to see the beautiful Aegean Sea from his behind._  
   
 _“Yeah, but the one a lot closer to me is more amazing to look at,” Matt waddles up to Dom, a dirty grin on his lips that were soon gone when attached to Dom’s. One kiss became two, then three, before they pull away to look at each other._  
   
 _“Are you going to take a swim with me, or are you just going to tan yourself up?”_  
   
 _“Hmm, I think I’m going to stay here longer and get some sunlight,” Dom says, wanting to tease him. Apparently that was not the answer that Matt wanted to hear, as Dom got a splash of water all over his face and body. In response, Dom retaliated by getting into a splash fight in the pool against Matt. It’s amazing how a sensual moment can easily turn into a childish water fight within a certain choice of words._  
   
 _The splashing fight ended with Matt trapped between Dom and the edge of the pool._  
   
 _“Naughty boy.”_  
   
 _“What are you going to do about it?” Matt challenges back, grabbing Dom’s arse and give it a good squeeze._  
   
 _“You sure you want to do it in here?” Dom asks, although he still pulls Matt into his arms and feel the water splashing around them as he did so. Matt giggles and kisses his lips lightly._  
   
 _“Having you as my boyfriend is a blessing and a curse,” Matt purrs, rubbing his hips against Dom’s. “For one, we have sex almost every day that we’re together.”_  
   
 _Dom grins, rubbing back just as hard. “And the curse?”_  
   
 _“Having sex everyday has gotten my libido up too much,” Matt groans. “It’s a wonder that I can keep up at all.”_  
   
 _“And to return to the original subject, why are you suggesting that we should do it here?”_  
   
 _“Why not?”_  
   
 _“We’ll dirty the pool,” Dom says. His second, more primal brain doesn’t agree with that._  
   
 _“Then we’ll just tip the housekeeping when they come around for keeping this place very, very clean,” Matt purrs, thumbing around the elastic waistband of Dom’s swimming trousers. “And make sure that they remain very, very quiet about it.”_  
   
 _They pressed their lips together. Matt’s hands are still on his swimming trousers, while Dom has one on the back of the brunette’s head and the other groping his arse to elicit a moan. Thing are going along finely for Dom, and now he can check off ‘Pool sex with Matt’ off his mental checklist._  
   
 _This is when the first problem came up, for Dom picks up an unfamiliar sound, and honed instincts that he has been training for has him to react to it._  
   
 _“Did you hear that?” Dom asks, stopping and pulling away from Matt, much to the other’s dismay._  
   
 _“Hear what?” Matt frowns, having not heard the noise that has his lover pulled away from such an amazing moment. If anything, he hears nothing that bothered him as far as he is concerned._  
   
 _“Sounded like clicking… and feels like someone is watching us,” Dom says, frowning and trying to search for the source of that sound. He has a nagging feeling that has him suspect that it was aimed at the two of them. Who and what they are doing here is more than enough to cause trouble, and that worry is enough to almost trigger his Eagle Vision, if only to use his enhanced sight and hearing to find where it came from._  
   
 _It was only Matt’s touch and his lips by the drummer’s jaw did Dom turn his attention back to the vocalist._  
   
 _“Didn’t peg you as the kind worried about being watched,” Matt chuckles, waddling back to Dom’s arms. “Relax there, love. It’s probably some people having fun on another villa nearby. Hear that?”_  
   
 _Dom does hear the laughter and chattering from another house some distance away from theirs before Matt drags him back into the business of snogging and inappropriate touching to thoroughly distract him from his worries. And surely, he did become distracted._  
   
 _Soon, their swimming trunks are off and left by the side of the pool. Dom’s fingers are inside Matt. The water is not much of a good substitute as lubricant, much less than spit, but the brunette is loose and relaxed enough to be able to take this once without worry._  
   
 _“Just take me right now,” Matt whimpers, pushing down on his fingers._  
   
 _“Really? But I wanted to play with you a bit more,” Dom grins, his fingers curling against that familiar spot._  
   
 _“Fuck. You. Howard,” the brunette spat out each word. “You fuckin’ tease.”_  
   
 _“That I am,” Dom agrees._  
   
 _Soon, his fingers are replaced with his cock now inside of Matt. The water is cool, but their bodies are so, so warm. The waiting and the teasing had been worth it._  
   
 _Each thrust increasing in pace and Matt gets louder. Dom grunts in pleasure of fucking Matt, and in pain from his fingernails scratching his back._  
   
 _When Matt’s mouth is not busy voicing his pleasure on getting fucked, then he is making out with Dom, almost dizzy and wanting more._  
   
 _When Dom’s hands are not on Matt’s hips or arse, then one or both of them are pressing, pinching, or scratching the brunette’s sensitive nipples._  
   
 _“Fuck, Matt,” he growls, kissing wetly on Matt’s neck and then biting him. The sounds that Matt makes is both music to his ears and an incentive for Dom to go rougher._  
   
 _The sun is hot behind his back, water has splashed out of the pool from their constant movement, and it is blissful when they finally reached their respective climax. Dom kisses Matt’s shoulder and his lower neck as they wait for the after effects of their orgasm to pass._  
   
 _“Pool sex… off my checklist,” Matt pants, his breath tickling Dom’s ear and making him shiver._  
   
 _“Yeah… Definitely off mine too.”_  
   
 _Matt giggles, seemingly finding that they both have the same fantasy fulfilled quite funny._  
   
 _Dom pulls out of Matt and strokes his messy dark hair back in place, grimacing at the waters in disgust. “We’re not going to be using this pool after what we’ve done. At least until it’s cleaned up.”_  
   
 _Matt giggles, kissing Dom’s nose. “There’s a reason why we’re going to the beach tomorrow. And every day if we’d like to.”_  
   
 _Dom stares at him for a moment before he shakes his head and grins in amusement. “You sneaky bastard.”_  
   
 _“Come on, I know that there’s a bathtub waiting for us. And then a big bed too.” Dom likes that idea. As soon as they get off the pool and pick up their swimming trunks, however, Dom feels it again._  
   
 _Even after he was consumed by lust and the promiscuous lover in front of him, he still can’t shake off that dreadful feeling of their privacy being intruded. Especially when he hears the clicking sounds once more._  
   
 _The uncomfortable feeling followed them around for the days that followed them on the island._  
   
\-----  
   
One careless mistake to listen to Matt, and they now have pictures of Matt’s pale arse being groped by Dom once they were out of the pool on the internet. And those are only from the first day of their vacation. The safe kind to see by public standards.  
   
“On my small break in Croatia from the tour, with magnificent tuna and white wine, I actually had to read tabloid presses at exclusive news and pictures of the two of you sucking faces in the pool.” Corvo cackles once more. “And here I thought that you were in some horrific accident or something just as bad.”  
   
“Are you done making fun of us?” Dom deadpans, frustrated at the whole even he has been through so far. Fortunately, Corvo seems to have picked up the hint.  
   
“Sorry… Hey, Dominic. If it makes you feel better, your fans are taking this a lot better than they can take credit from,” Corvo says, his voice taking in a much more gentle and comforting manner. “You should check the forums and social media. Granted, it’s a mess there, but they’re showing that they are a lot more mature and supportive than you’d expected from something like this. The support that they’re showing is beyond what any of us expected.”  
   
In all the chaos of having to deal with various phone calls from different people since the discovery, it almost never occurred to the blond of what and how the fans will react to this. If they are supportive and accepting of their relationship as Corvo said, then at least there’s one thing that wouldn’t be considered as a problematic issue.  
   
“Though a number of these fans are also a bit… zealous on seeing your relationship with Matt, if you get what I mean,” Corvo clears his throat, and Dom understood what he meant. “On the bright side for them, that just means more materials and resources for them to work on their fictions involving the two of you in very erotic positions.”  
   
“Remind me not to ever see those.” God, was it a mistake to check those stories out of curiosity a long time ago. Long before he had any inkling that he saw Matt more than what he is. In hindsight, that was what probably triggered him to look at Matt that way in the first place.  
   
“In this day and age when erotic literature can be published for free online, you still choose to turn the other way,” Corvo tutted him. “They’re a good read. Perhaps I can interest you with this saucy erotic story of you as a lawyer and Matthew as a very sexually liberal writer that you met in an art class--”  
   
“Again, please don’t remind me of it.”  
   
“Alright there, spoilsport,” Corvo giggles. Something on the other side of the phone has gotten Corvo to stop laughing and make an interested sound. “I just scrolled down to the next picture, and according to the Daily Mail, with you two on a romantic evening stroll in Firá. You two look lovely in the pictures, by the way.”  
   
“Thanks… I think?” It is fortunate that Corvo has decided to steer back to more appropriate things to talk about.  
   
“From what the tabloids and some fans are thinking, the two of you are just a few steps away to be getting into a civil partnership and a set of fine china as a gift sent to your label office by the fans.”  
   
“They wouldn’t do that,” Dom scoffs at the idea of it. After a short ponder, he concedes, “Okay, they probably would.”  
   
“Well, then I got nothing to worry about from here. You just got more paps to stalk you two around, but I’m sure that you can handle it. After all, Matthew does have a  _big, strong_  man willing to look after him,” he crowed, almost sounding on the verge of breaking down laughing again.  
   
“I’ll call you back when the tabloids have dug up some more ‘incriminating’ evidence of your time with Matthew,” Corvo snickers. Dom can actually picture him with a smug grin on his face right now as he takes the call off. “See you around, Dominic.”  
   
“Have fun in Croatia,” Dom says, rolling his eyes as he finishes the conversation with the younger man.  
   
“Dom, who were you talking to?” Matt calls out. “Doesn’t sound like you were talking to Chris there.”  
   
“It was Nic Cester!” Dom calls back, after a quick think of who would be the appropriate acquaintance to replace Corvo. “How was the call with Tom?”  
   
Matt has long tossed his phone to the couch and takes a seat next to Dom on the kitchen island, one hand messing his hair and letting out a sigh. “Well, aside from the press media circus conference that we have to be ready for in a couple of days, Tom’s been trying to keep some gay magazines from hounding us for first exclusive interviews with us.”  
   
That last sentence certainly got Dom’s attention in response.  
   
“It’s a good thing that they got to know our coming out and took it quite well,” Dom says wryly. Truthfully, he’s surprised that such magazines want to get first dibs on them, but then again, any news is good publicity for them.  
   
“At least we already let Chris and Tom and the others know about it, and they took it a lot better,” Matt grins. Dom can’t help but chuckle. Now  _that_  one was equal parts hilarious and humiliating for both parties. They found them out by accident after an intense concert in the dressing room, in a state of undress and making out. Despite Chris looking gobsmacked by the sight of them in a compromising position, he laughs and then declares that he won the bet, much to their crews’ chagrin.  
   
The only person who was upset by how Chris and the rest of the crew have betted on how their relationship will be revealed to them, was of all people, Matt. Because he wanted to be in the bet itself and win money out of it.  
   
“Well, I guess we don’t have to walk around eggshells on the idea of coming out to the public anymore. As much as I’m surprised that it lasted nearly half a year without suspicion being picked up, something like this was going to happen sooner or later,” Matt sighs, sipping his tea in content. In the time that Dom spent talking with his mother, he prepared a cup of Matt’s tea prepared the usual way. The tea has cooled down considerably, but Matt drank it nevertheless.  
   
As much as Dom knew that it was Matt’s careless disregard of their surroundings that made this whole thing happened, Dom cannot find in his heart to blame his lover entirely. He shares part of the blame for heeding more to his own selfishness rather his own instincts warning him. And the fucking sleazy paparazzi too, he thinks begrudgingly.  
   
He leans towards the brunette and presses a soft kiss on his forehead.  
   
“Don’t worry about it, Bells. We’ll just have to deal with the aftermath of it as best as we can. Get used to the fact that paps will now have another reason to follow us,” Dom quips. “And trips to visit our family for awkward dinners.”  
   
With that, he got Matt to let out a giggle and look up at him. “You tell me. I’m thankful that my family are taking to this quite well. My Nan still thinks that you’re a bad influence on me, though.”  
   
“Yeah, I not only got you to join my band, I also got you to be my boyfriend.”  
   
“You poof,” Matt huffs, trying to look unamused by that statement but looks more as though he is giving Dom a pout.  
   
“So darling, you’d reckoned that our fans will send us a fine china set to the label office?”  
   
Matt raises an eyebrow, putting the mug down. “If they do, it’d better be a damn fine set to admire once we’re through with the interviews.”


	13. Chapter 13

“Ah, you’re finally here, Dominic,” Poppy nods to Dom when the blond enters the computer room in The Tunnels.  
  
“Do you need me to do something? Is it a mission that you called me here for?” Dom inquires. He’d received a call for a mission by the woman while he was outside and came here as soon as possible.  
  
Poppy nods. “Yes. There is an important parcel that was meant to arrive yesterday, which consisted of hard drives that contain intelligence data of Abstergo, but it never came on the approximate time. The good thing is, the box has a tracker inside of it.”  
  
“So you want me to retrieve it,” Dom says, having an idea of what his assignment is going to be.  
  
Poppy nods in affirmation.  
  
“I’ve tracked down and checked the location of where the parcel is. However, it’s in a well-known gang territory and that gang is suspected to be in connection with Abstergo. Luckily, because the sender is allied to us, they have sent me pictures to be able to create a decoy that is the almost exact replica as the real one,” Poppy taps her pen on a rectangular flat box on the table. “I need you to find the parcel, retrieve it, and swap it in place with the decoy.”  
  
Dom nods. “I can do it then.”  
  
“That’s good. But remember Dominic, you are there to infiltrate and retrieve an important item. So don’t cause any attention to be brought onto you by harming or killing any of the people in that gang,” Poppy warns him.  
  
“I’ll stick to the shadows and do my best, Poppy,” Dom says. _And I don’t want blood on my hands for a delivery parcel_ , he thinks to himself.  
  
Still, Poppy provides to him a Hidden Blade and a few stun grenades just in case something goes wrong on his end, and a backpack to store the decoy parcel in before he is on his way to the missing delivery package.  
  
When he arrives by the afternoon, it is to a warehouse with a light amount of security. Scanning his surroundings, Dom can see places that he can hide, sneak, and climb onto. With Eagle Vision, he could see through walls to be able to discern the enemies and their patrolling paths. It didn’t make his mission laughably easy, but it gave him an idea of his path to the parcel and several ways to break off from any attention on him by the guards.  
  
From there, he sneaks his way around the factory, careful of avoiding the patrollers and the occasional men and women hanging around until he reaches the office on the upper floor. That last part required a bit of manoeuvring as the stairs are being watched, instead having to climb up and jump through large crates and beams to reach the room where the box is located.  
  
He finds the parcel sitting on the floor beside a couple of lockers. When he lifts up the real box, he is surprised that the weight of it is the exact same as the decoy. Either the Assassins are really good at putting attention to detail or they’re really that paranoid about their involvement being discovered, as Poppy mentioned to him before. He doesn’t think about anything further as he switches the boxes and shoves the real box into his backpack, and search for a quick exit.  
  
Within an hour since he’d arrived, he is already out of the warehouse.  
  
All in all, Dom thinks as he runs back to the car, this infiltration mission is an all-round success for him.  
  
No one from the gang suspects that their hideout was infiltrated by a single person, nor did they suspect that the box that they took was switched. And no one noticed a person wearing a hood, silently leaving from the window of the office.  
  
By the time that the gang leader did go and finally opened the box out of curiosity, Dom is already driving back to the teahouse with the real package. And the drummer never got to witness the spectacular show that the decoy provided to the gang. He didn’t need to because he didn’t know what was exactly inside the decoy box.  
  
And a good idea to stay away from the show, too, as the decoy box reveals a music box playing _Trocadero March_ in front of the confused gang members. When the music box finishes its song, that is when the fireworks flew out and the small plastic explosives installed in the parcel detonated, destroying the decoy and anyone unlucky enough to be near the explosion.  
  
\-----  
  
“So what do you think?” Matt asks Dom.  
  
Dom takes another look around the room where he and Matt are standing in. The room is large, and sunlight naturally light up the whole area from the skylight and the French doors that leads to a balcony outside. From the view of the balcony, there’s the ocean.  
  
The room that they’re standing in is aptly the sunroom by the agent. The master bedroom is located on the part of the house where it is the coolest on the afternoon and evening.  
  
It looks like the perfect place to wind down, relax, and get some sun on his skin.  
  
“It looks good. Better than the last ones we went to,” Dom says, glancing at the hopeful look on the agent’s face standing by the doorway. The blond gives some pity for the Chinese woman as she has been tirelessly showing them the houses and apartments that they have been looking around for the past few days. Then again, her aggressiveness in work ethics is why they have been seeing her face around for the past few days rather than different ones.  
  
It’s not the next big step or the like of it. They’re just looking around at these houses. They knew and have lived in LA before. What is the next step here is to find and purchase a place to live, a place to stay at on another continent.  
  
They are no longer living apart in Italy and France, respectively. They have a house in North London that they share. Matt has sold his villa and flat but has insisted that they needed a place to stay in LA that is much more permanent to live in to divide the time between America and Britain.  
  
Both men check out on the small house that they have come to see. But then, the estate agent calling this a six-room, two-storey building a small house is a bit misleading.  
  
While Matt was looking at the rooms and thinking about the places that will be the studio and where to place his baby grand and Dom’s drum sets and the guest rooms, Dom is looking for potential locations to hide his weapons that are starting to grow in his collection. Not something that Matt or the estate agent should know.  
  
“It really looks like the perfect place to stay. We can easily buy it,” Dom says after saying farewell for their estate agent and on their way back to the hotel that they’re staying.  
  
“We’ve got a few more houses to take a look at, so don’t immediately say you want it. Good thing you didn’t show that to the agent too. Although I think that Kate Hudson wouldn’t mind having us as her next door neighbour,” Matt snickers.  
  
“Already planning to torment your ex?” Dom smirks. “How petty of you, Matt.”  
  
“That was a one-time date. It didn’t go any further than that,” Matt dismisses it with a wave of his hand.  
  
“And a good thing too,” Dom grins, leaning in to run his nose against Matt’s. “Or else I wouldn’t be here picking houses with you.”  
  
“You just want to keep me all to yourself like the selfish man you are,” Matt accuses.  
  
“But you like it,” Dom’s grin returns to a smirk.  
  
Matt gives him a glare, but that was easily fixed by Dom with a proper kiss and holding his hand, and Matt has a flustered smile on his face. There, much better.  
  
\-----  
  
Dom blinks and stares up at the ceiling, miffed by the fact that his sleep is light and that he is up at the witching hour.  
  
He can’t sleep. Jetlag. It isn’t something that can inflict him often, yet the symptoms are all there to see. Travelling from L.A back to Nice, moving forward in time does that. He wonders why he still comes back here. It’s easier to stay in London despite the miserable weather, and admittedly, it would be nice to go back soon and be closer to things if there are any activity that starts picking up.  
  
Then he remembers that he is here because he is packing his stuff up.  
  
Sighing, Dom sits up on the bed, seeing that sleep won’t be happening anytime soon and starts changing his clothes. Hendrix wakes up and whines in concern, following his master. The drummer looks down at the dog and smiles, ruffling its head.  
  
“Sorry, Hendrix. Just need to go outside for some fresh air. You better stay here and look after the house, okay?” Hendrix barks in reply, which Dom takes it as a yes.  
  
He picks out a red t-shirt and a grey hoodie out easily, going for trousers next. Dom curses under his breath, forgetting that his track pants are in the pile of dirty laundry. A pair of jeans will do then. He picked a pair that is looser than his usual tight ones. He actually does fine in tight trousers and jeans, even having run and climb as he’d discovered while wearing them before, but for tonight, he doesn’t wants to risk ripping any of them.  
  
Walking through the hallways he picks up the house keys and takes one lingering look at the hall before leaving. Some of his stuff is already back in London, either in his house or in storage, but Dom wants to stay just a bit longer and take appreciation of the house that is soon to be empty and the keys handed to an agent.  
  
Taking one night to traverse the city wouldn’t hurt, it’ll be like watching over the city like a vigilante superhero does when you the police force are not sufficient in its power to be capable enough to deal with crime. Like Batman. Or Spiderman. The only difference would be that for him and other Assassins, trusting the police is the last thing in their minds to be believed to be good.  
  
He’s used to traversing the city in this way at night, without using his car or a bicycle. If he can climb around the buildings on daylight without getting gawked at by the people, Nice can be a pretty mind-blowing city to see. Ironically, it was only in large cities that are monitored so strictly like London or New York City that he can do some freerunning in daylight and no one cares.  
  
Well, technically, Abstergo _does_ care. If it weren’t for the advent and popularity of freerunning and parkour from the newer generations though, Dom would be a lot more in trouble for traversing places this way. Big cities have always provided itself to be a place that should’ve meant that travelling vertically is just as possible, they just have to stop putting up annoying things like anti-climbing paint or barbed wire and spikes. Maybe Los Angeles will provide a new area of exploration and a refreshing challenge for him.  
  
He stops on his tracks, standing up and looking around. He could’ve sworn that he heard something unusual, like a high pitched scream of a woman. Then more noises were heard from the same direction of the scream. Following the direction of the noise, Dom soon finds the source and the cause of it.  
  
Three men, drunk, ganging up on a single woman in the dead end of an alley. Even from the darkness below, Dom can tell that they have bad intentions to do upon her.  
  
He can’t leave her alone, not when he knows the guilt of not taking action on something preventable. Dom keeps an eye on the three men, shining brightly in red once he has tagged them. From the distance of the rooftop to the ground below, Dom deduces that it’s risky even with his skills and training, but doable in what he hopes to do next.  
  
He takes one deep breath, calculates the distance between the nearest man and how far he has to reach them, realising how dangerous and stupid taking such an action is, and jumps off.  
  
Dom did not have time to think of how lucky he is that his legs did not break from jumping off the rooftops as said legs planted themselves on one of the men. The impact of his fall is more than enough to knock the man down to the ground. A hard hit against the head to make sure that he is down and out.  
  
He is aware that he is not dreaming, yet he feels like he is in one because it feels surreal that time seems to slow down around him as he dodges and strike the two men with punches and kicks. It might’ve been the adrenaline rush from dropping down from a four storey building or that there is only two of them to deal with after knocking one out cold, but all too soon, the scuffle is over with Dom as the remaining one standing, panting loudly and loosening his fists.  
  
With the three of the men unconscious or groaning in pain on the ground, unable to move at all, Dom chooses that moment to leave the scene of a crime, knowing that he’ll be in trouble even though he saved someone. He only took a few steps before a voice draws his attention.  
  
 _“Excusez moi monsieur?”_  
  
He freezes in place. It’s the woman that he’d saved.  
  
" _Merci_. Thank you," she whispers. He stops, turning around reluctantly to look at the woman that he had saved. He nods.  
  
"Call the police. I've done all that I can," Dom says. He starts to move again until she calls out to him.  
  
"Can you stay with me? Until the police comes," the lady pleads. "I don't want to be left alone."  
  
Dom hesitates. He needs to leave, but he can't leave a woman all by herself when she is still scared and vulnerable after what happened. The unconscious men on the ground might still get up even with their injuries. It isn’t right.  
  
"Can you promise me that you don't tell them who I am?" he asks, his decision finally made, turning his body to face her, but his head is facing down, the hood obscuring part of his face. It didn’t matter that she doesn’t know that an Assassin saved her, but the fear that she might recognise who he is still concerns him.  
  
“Okay…” she bites her lips, hands shaking as she takes her phone out. With some effort, she manages to dial for the police, informing them what happened and where she is. As promised, Dom stays behind, keeping watch over the unconscious bodies of the pigs that tried to lay a hand on her.  
  
With that done, they sit down facing each other. They talk to each other to pass the time, but more for the woman to feel comfortable and safe around Dom. He doesn’t tell her his name, and she in return does the same. They don’t need to complicate the matter any further.  
  
To think the time that Dom used to spend to chase after ladies (and Matt), with nary a day to worry. Only now, he sits on the opposite side, seeing a victim that is in need to have a temporary companion, for protection and comfort after almost being attacked. It’s all that he can do right now. She doesn’t deserve such a treatment from these men.  
  
Occasionally, she turns back to speaking in her mother tongue in a subconscious manner, doing it out of instinct to cull the fear and anxiety in her. Dom never bothered to stop her, only saying that it was alright, and that he understands French, whenever she stops and realises what she had done and apologises.  
  
Finally, what seems like hours during the half hour wait, they can hear the sirens and the tell-tale red and blue lights shining, signalling the arrival of the law enforcements.  
  
“Go, you’re alright now,” he urges. She stands up and walks out of the alley, with Dom staying behind to keep watch.  
  
When the police approached her, she turns back to the alley, only to see that it is now empty. The English stranger that saved her life disappeared without a trace. To both the woman and Dom, however, they were never aware of a third party who has observed them in the same darkness that Dom used to escape notice.  
  
\-----  
  
A couple of days later, he gets a call from Corvo, saying that he is in Provence for a holiday, and will be coming to Nice the next day. Their meeting place will be somewhere in the city’s centre, and that was it from that single call.  
  
Upon arriving around noon, the main square is filled with people. Using his vision, he could see a golden trail of vapour and footprints, confirming that Corvo is here and wearing his cologne. Following the trail, it led him to a nearby cafe, where two men were seated on the outside, with food and wine served on the table.  
  
“So, the novice’s sight is getting better than I expected,” the man sitting next to Corvo said, an accent obvious while speaking in English. The Frenchman is glowing in green, so he is either an ally or part of the Assassins too.  
  
“Good afternoon, Dominic. Care for a seat?” Corvo greets, calling a waiter out in French to bring an extra chair for their third guest to the table. Meanwhile, the Frenchman stands up and greets Dom.  
  
“Ah, so you are Dominic?” he says his name with a sharp ‘C’ at the end.  
  
“Yes, and you are…?” Dom raises an eyebrow.  
  
“My name is Jacques Géroux Dubois, at your service,” he introduces himself. “But I am also more known as _Le Gargouille_.”  
  
“Okay…?” Dom looks at him incredulously.  
  
“I had a previous nickname. A little name changing, but I still do the same thing,” Jacques laughs. “Corvo has known me before the name switch.”  
  
“What was it previously?” Dom asks, curious.  
  
“Ah. It was _Le Pendu_.” Dom’s French may be limited at best, but his eyes widened once he pieces it together and realised what that name translates to: The Hangman.  
  
“ _Le Gargouille_ it is,” Dom shakes the Frenchman’s hand.  
  
“Just call him Jacques. His enemies call him those silly nicknames.” As soon as Corvo says that, Jacques seemingly deflates right in front of Dom. Ignoring what happened to the other, Corvo continues.  
  
"Jacques has been keeping watch over you in Nice. He's the one who told me how you have recently saved a woman from getting raped from drunkard men. A job well done saving her, Dominic,” Corvo says, giving the drummer a proud grin. The waiter arrives with the chair in hand and places it down before leaving. Dom sits down facing the two Assassins.  
  
"Which I must say _est un superbe travail_!" Jacques exclaims, his enthusiasm coming right back. "To see how you face this all while still a novice..."  
  
“Which is impressive, to say the least. But then your skills are already at getting better anyways,” Corvo dismisses Jacques’ praises on Dominic. “What’s important is that you saved her from a worst outcome.”  
  
“Thanks. It just happened while I was out on the rooftops though--”  
  
“Great! And now I can go back on my holiday!” Corvo cuts him off, not bothering to learn the story, laying back on his seat and drinking his glass of wine. Dom raises his eyebrow.  
  
“You weren’t here to evaluate me? Or say that I did something wrong?” Dom asks. He knows the rules and how they have actual consequences coming from the Brotherhood, especially from Corvo as their Mentor.  
  
Corvo huffs. “Dominic, you’re not in trouble. I am in one of those rare times where I get to have a holiday,” he explains. “You know, enjoy the summertime in Provence and the cuisine. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I was supposed to be in the historical city of Aix-en-Provence and live in a rented apartment. But _no_ , Jacques here insists in me to come to Nice, make last minute plans and live in an expensive hotel for a couple of nights instead. _Just_ so the idiot here can have me call you here to give you a word of job well done.”  
  
“Oh,” is all what Dom can say, more than embarrassed by it all. “I’m really sorry about ruining your plans.”  
  
“It’s not your fault. I needed to vent it out and you can’t exactly tell us the story while we’re out and about,” Corvo tells Dom, reassuringly convincing the blond that it’s not his fault that he made the Japanese Assassin upset. “Besides, as a result that I am back in Nice and Jacques is here, this Frenchman right here will be paying for our meals--”  
  
“ _Quoi?_ ” Jacques almost dropped his glass of wine in shock.  
  
Corvo glares at him. “For the _duration_ of my stay here in Nice.”  
  
Dom isn’t sure whether he wants to laugh at the whole scenario or take pity of the poor Frenchman and his wallet. He is sure that from the way that Corvo talked, he can recognise the signs that the singer wasn’t meant to be here earlier than planned, and certainly wasn’t coming here by himself.  
  
They had dinner that very night, an exclusive restaurant that Dom knows that it requires at least to book a table a month in advance at its busiest hours. Corvo shows absolutely no remorse as Jacques pulls his card out and the Frenchman looks as though that he wants to cry on the table as he hands it over to the waiter.  
  
In the end, he spent his day with the two Assassins, learning more of Jacques and his relations with Corvo. Which is somewhat vitriolic but friendly by the appearance of it. Say what they want about him and how much lighter Jacques’ wallet is becoming, but Corvo has expensively good taste for a voracious eater and drinker of money-shattering wine that can be comparable to Matt’s tastes.  
  
At least his hunch had been true when they meet up with Link a couple of days later. Corvo’s mood got a lot better with the addition of the tall drummer before they departed from Nice and drive off to where they were meant to go. It’s amazing how the giant man’s presence can seemingly calm the other down.  
  
It was a shame, though, that the stay was short. It is the best dining experience for Dominic when he follows Corvo around during those few days, and a bit amusing watching Jacques crying as though his wallet is burning right in front of him. He could’ve talked with the French Assassin more had he known of him a lot of earlier, but by then Dom is already on his way back to London with Hendrix in tow.  
  
\-----  
  
 **Los Angeles, June 2011**  
  
The Metro Rail was established in 1990 as subway and light rail company, a successor to both the Pacific Electric Red Car and Los Angeles Railway Yellow Car lines after both companies closed up in the early 1960’s. The shining example of what Los Angeles has been sorely in need of to elevate traffic from above. With its rising numbers of ridership, already budget is allocated for expansion and better trains.  
  
Some people talk of Metro Rail having not used the existing railway tunnels underground to its full extent, and the reality of it is that they are mostly correct.  
  
Most of the tunnels underground that was built long ago are still not in use and abandoned either due to that it’s unsuitable to expand there or that the structure that was already there is not stable after a long time of being unused and the bare minimum of maintenance. Despite the rules and the patrols set up to prevent people from entering, it still became the perfect place for those who wanted shelter here or to set up something illegal there.  
  
It’s also the perfect place to set up a meeting.  
  
To those that have arrived, they came in with their hoods on and their signature masks. Well aware that the location of their meeting is not entirely safe even after rounds of sweeping off any bug devices, the masks serve both as a function to hinder facial recognition to outsiders, and to recognise who is who among each other in their circle.  
  
From the darkness walks out a man in a dark grey trench coat with a hood over his head. His mask resembles that of a plague doctor, but the mask is skilfully crafted to resemble more as a crow. Alongside with him is a man who towers over everybody else, wearing a wolf’s mask and its materials in creating the mask are similar to the Crow’s. At the sight of the Crow and the Wolf, the others nodded to them in greeting.  
  
“Is everyone here?” Crow asks. From the murmurs of ‘yes’, and some nods here and there, Crow says, “Then our meeting shall start now. I’m sure you have all known the purpose of our meetup today.”  
  
“An artefact is confirmed to have arrived here. Ghost has the evidence for it,” a man wearing a black cowboy hat, a T-shirt with the calligraphy of the word ‘Outlaw’ on it peeking out from his leather jacket, and a John Wayne mask answers.  
  
“Alright. What can the Ghost show to us?” Crow asks. A tall, lanky man in a red leather jacket and a pale white gas mask speaks.  
  
“I’ve tracked the artefact as it follows the owner,” Ghost says. “After an orchestrated break in that was set to deliberately fail by the other cell in Romania, the artefact is now moved here. Last that I have checked, the owner has left for Europe again but left it behind here for safekeeping.”  
  
“All the more easily for us to retrieve it then,” a short woman with a garishly bright coloured mask and a pixie bob cut says.  
  
“We will need to get to it while it is still here,” someone from the circle said. His clown mask appears eerie by the darkness and the fire flickering as their only source of light. “The information that Ghost has provided will expire quickly if we don’t act on it as soon as possible. Who knows how long it will stay here before it’s moved again.”  
  
“I agree with Clown,” Outlaw agrees. “But based on the location on where it is, it’s best a small team must be sent to get it. A two man team is doable, but three or four is recommended in my opinion.”  
  
“I agree with Outlaw. However, I’m sure that a lot of you have your own commitments that prevents you from wanting to do this, I presume?” Crows asks in a nonchalant manner.  
  
“If it’s within this month, then I’m game,” Outlaw says.  
  
“I’m sorry. I’m busy as it is,” Pixie shakes her head in disappointment. “It took me a while to shake the others off before coming here. And I have plans already.”  
  
“I have the same problem as Pixie. It’s hard enough to have even six of us to come here,” Clown agrees with her, glancing around at the circle of masked people.  
  
Crow nods. “I understand your concerns, everyone. In light of what you’ve all said, I’m bringing Outlaw and my apprentice with me.” At that, murmurs spill out amongst the circle. Crow clears his throat once, and they immediately went silent.  
  
“Penny for your thoughts?” Crow asks, tilting his head.  
  
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Crow? He’s not a real Assassin yet,” Outlaw scoffs.  
  
“But he’s learning fast,” Pixie counters Outlaw. “We’ve read the reports of him from Poppy recently. Although he has not done as much as we did to prove it, he has done more than we ever did in half a year. Soon he’ll be able to stand equal among us.”  
  
“It doesn't mean that we can cover his ass if he fucks up,” Outlaw retorts. “This is a dangerous and powerful artefact that we’re talking about here, so it means security and traps that he is not ready to deal with.”  
  
Their debate was cut short by someone clearing his throat loudly, and they all turn towards Wolf, who has been silent throughout the meeting so far. “Once upon a time, weren’t we all like him? We ourselves would not have been proved as competent in what we do without being thrown into it and learn from those who have done it, and from ourselves.”  
  
There are some murmurs of agreement to Wolf’s words. The Outlaw remained silent, simply crossing his arms and ignoring everybody else. To those who are close by to him, they can tell that he has a grudging acceptance to what Wolf has said.  
  
“Anything more to say of this mission?” Silence reigns over until Crow nods. “Then this meeting is adjourned. Outlaw, join me and Wolf to another location. We shall discuss and prepare for what is to come. The rest of you may now leave.”  
  
With that, they scattered, each either pairing up or going alone through the various exits. The ‘Ghost’ is the last to leave the impromptu meeting, making sure that the papers that were brought to it are burned down with no traces that a group of masked people of having ever come here.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! It's been... five months since I last updated this series. I had trouble this chapter because it's all action! And a lot of uncertainty of this chapter and a lot procrastinating via writing other stories instead. So this is Dom's first taste of a mission filled with action! Blood! Violence! Together with Corvo and another Assassin!

Since his first successful solo mission, following his nervous feedback and Poppy’s promise, the next missions that Poppy has assured to him will be those where he has to team up with other Assassins that he has never met before. His first missions are solo ones to test if he can do well by himself, the next one is to see whether if he can work and coordinate well in a team.  
  
It is of a sound idea since the few Assassins that he has met are Corvo, Poppy, and Jacques (and the rest of Corvo’s bandmates), so it is good for Dom to know others out of that inner circle that he has developed. It also allows him chances of being given different responsibilities during missions, varying from assistance to participation.  
  
As he is still under training and there’s still a lot for Dom to learn, he isn’t sure whether he can be comfortable around other Assassins that he has not yet met before.  
  
It turns out that his worries are for naught. According to Poppy, Dom is not the first person under Corvo’s training, and in his mission to recruit more people to join the Assassins, he has recruited fellow musicians into it. She did warned him, however, that it can be jarring and weird experience for Dom since these meetups with other Assassins cum musicians makes for a familiar, if bizarre, reunions and meet ups.  
  
On the one hand, he is under training and having to learn and gain experience from the others, which meant that he is under their responsibility and care of Assassins that are varied in their age but are more experienced in this field than he is. On the other hand, he is also Dominic Howard, drummer of Muse and many are influenced by their works and look up to him and his bandmates. So Poppy said that it was inevitable that one way or another, some will take it as a rare chance to ever meet him.  
  
There’s also the mulling thoughts in his head as he tries to think on _who_ are those fellow musicians with affiliations to the Assassins. How many of them has he talked to and never noticed anything odd about them? Either they’re very good at keeping their secret identities or he is thick-headed.  
  
It’s a thought for Dom to muse over. The combination between being the newbie and a well-respected musician tends to make the line paper thin, even blurred as they work together and complete their missions. From hearing of the many of those fellows Assassins that sounds familiar to him, it’s hard to believe that Corvo has been responsible for training all of them. However, there is no way to deny it; Corvo is a very effective and successful mentor to many of them, and in return, they’re teaching recruits like him.  
  
So to say that Dom is a tiny bit excited to find out who else joined the Assassins like he did is an understatement. Even though he’s technically not the only musician to be part of the brotherhood, it still makes for an exciting news to him.  
  
So when Corvo appears on the doorsteps of his new LA home and word of a mission waiting to spill from his lips, it was not as if Dom can avoid it in the first place when he has been anticipating for it. Or have the time to ask Corvo as to how he found out where he is living in LA considering that he’d just moved into the new house and haven’t told anyone but to Chris and Tom.  
  


\-----

  
The Californian desert is dry, yet the yet the air is cool enough to leave the windows open. The car zoomed through the endless vast plane as the billboards become less frequent and the sun slowly sets.  
  
He stopped thinking about how Corvo manages to find time to be a musician and an Assassin. Clearly, if the man can set up a schedule that doesn’t affect either of his roles _and_ know about the schedules of other Assassins under his helm, then he is not the kind of person to mess with.  
  
While driving, Corvo hands him a file to get an overview of their mission.  
  
The meeting point is in hillside cliff near a large mansion in California, where all the evidence points out where a Precursor Artifact is being kept there by a billionaire as part of his private collection. There are three of them on this mission. Himself, Corvo, and someone named Ashley Purdy.  
  
“So what is the artifact like?” Dom asks as Corvo drives into a less used road by the side of the highway.  
  
“According to the files sent to me, it is a Precursor artifact that can deflect metal, or a human made artifact made from the remnants of the technology that does the same thing,” Corvo answers. “Both are powerful either way to be kept in the hands of those who don’t know about its use, or _do_ know it and will use it for purposes worse than ours.”  
  
“Which one do you think is more likely?”  
  
“I’d say the latter. The man who owns the mansion that we’re going to break in… Let’s just say that having an offshore _mansion_ is a touch too obvious than a bank account. And I wish I wasn’t exaggerating.”  
  
Hearing that, Dom can’t help but laugh, which results in Corvo giggling.  
  
“Why have offshore accounts when you can have an offshore mansion?” Dom jokes. And they continued to laugh along the trip.  
  
When the car stops, Dom finds himself under the intense scrutinizing attention paid by Corvo.  
  
“What?” Dom asks, unnerved.  
  
“That hood you’re wearing is too small,” Corvo notes, pulling a duffel bag from the back seat and unzipping it. He pulls out a bandana and then a large coat with a hood on it. He grimaces at the latter but still tosses both items towards the blond. “Wear those. We need to keep our faces hidden from both the cameras and the guards when we break in. And put your necklace away, it’ll be a dead giveaway.”  
  
Whilst Dom puts those on and hides his necklace behind his shirt, Corvo busies himself by taking out a case for contact lenses, putting the lenses on and using the rear view mirror. When Dom turns to the other man, he blinks at the sight of Corvo’s eyes looking… not odd-eyed at all.  
  
“This is to make sure that they can’t pinpoint me with my eyes,” Corvo explains, blinking a few times to adjust the lenses and taking a good look at himself with ‘natural brown’ eyes instead of brown and green on his right and left eyes, respectively. “Also, I am somewhat near-sighted, so it helps to have clear sight.”  
  
Dom doesn’t like to admit it, but it actually looks weird for him to see Corvo’s eyes to be much like everyone else instead of standing out. Then, yet again, the Japanese Assassin pulls something out of another bag to be put onto his hands, and this time something completely different.  
  
“Woah there, you’re giving me a pistol?!” Dom exclaims, staring at the weapon in shock.  
  
“This is only for in case anything happens to you and I’m not there, and you have to defend yourself,” Corvo says, pulling the gun out of its holster. He shows the safety switch on the pistol, flipping it downwards. “Red means that the safety is turned off, and you can use it to shoot, got it there?”  
  
Dom is unsure but still, he nods and puts on the holster and pistol. While it takes him a short time to set up and be ready, Corvo took a longer one as he arms himself to the teeth. He doesn’t have one but _two_ Hidden Blades, along with an impressive arsenal that almost looks as though he is more ready for war than to commit burglary.  
  
“Come on, Ashley is already out there waiting for us,” Corvo says, opening the car door and leaving the vehicle parked. Dom checks his Hidden Blade one last time to see whether or not if it’s well secured to his right arm before he is satisfied and follows suit.  
  
The time of the night is long pass since the sun set, and the temperature is rather comfortably cooled down. After a few minutes of walking, they find a crouching figure leaning on a large rock, busy surveying the mansion from below with a pair of binoculars. That must be Ashley herself.  
  
The hopes of being able to meet another female Assassin besides Poppy is instantly shattered upon setting his eyes on Ashley. Ashley has a noticeable lack of boobs, is one hundred percent a man filled with testosterone, and _definitely_ not a woman at all.  
  
“Ashley, I think that we don’t need much of an introduction between the two of you. But Dominic doesn’t know who you are yet.”  
  
“Ashley Purdy,” the man introduces himself. “Bassist of Black Veil Brides. So this is the geezer that’s joining us for tonight?”  
  
“ _Pardon?_ ” Dom raises his eyebrow. Granted, he’s only in his mid-thirties, but a _geezer_?  
  
“Yes, he is. And don’t call him a geezer, Ashley. That’s rude,” Corvo chastises the bassist.  
  
"Yeah. And from the looks of it, I bet he probably can't even pick up a plastic knife without fainting from the sight of blood," Ashley scoffs, eyeing the drummer from top to bottom.  
  
He decides that he doesn’t like Ashley Purdy.  
  
For now, he will _tolerate_ Ashley.  
  
“Ashley, focus to the objectives of the plan rather than belittle the apprentice. Unless either of us have been detected by security, stick to the tranquilizer gun, okay?” Corvo orders, looking at the younger man sternly. He pulls out a small case. “Here are our earpieces. We must stay in contact to coordinate through this.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve already found the perfect place as a sniper’s nest,” Ashley says, picking an earpiece out and attaching it to his right ear before he departs. He slings the rifle over his back, taking a different trek to wherever his nest is going to be.  
  
“We’ll be ready once you’re in position.”  
  
“Got it,” Ashley replies.  
  
“He’s a twat,” Dom says as soon as he thinks that Ashley is out of hearing distance, not daring to put his earpiece on yet. Then he adds, “And a dick.”  
  
“He can be a dick. But I understand why he said that,” Corvo reassures him. “He doesn't want anything to go wrong. The two of us have checked what security here is like, and it’s pretty tough. Hence, why I needed you to tag along with me to the mansion even though I could’ve find others to fill that role in or do it by myself.”  
  
“So why didn’t you?”  
  
“Because the others are busy, and I’m mentoring you, so I want you to learn what working in a team is like. Even Ashley understands the necessity to work together, even if you two don’t like each other for now.”  
  
Dom begrudgingly accepts that as he puts his earpiece on. He’ll have the time to dislike that bassist after the mission is done.  
  
There's a smile on Corvo’s face that is directed at him as they walk towards where the mansion. It weirds him out.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Admit it,” Corvo sniggers.  
  
“Admit what?” Dom furrows his face.  
  
“Admit that when you heard his name, you thought that _he_ was a _she_ ,” he snickers. Dom is not sure whether if he’ll get away with it if he punches Corvo’s smug face off. He did punched him once during training. All he needs is that element of surprise to catch him off guard again to make it work.  
  
“You can get down there first,” Corvo instructs. “I’ll catch up with you once I take a survey of the place.”  
  
Dom rolls his eyes and starts walking with a huff.  
  
Once he safely got down, Dom quietly hides in the bushes and signals to Corvo from below. He expected Corvo to stealthily come down from the top of the hill and perform a lot better than he did. What he should’ve expected instead is Corvo leaping off from the top and taking down the guard nearby the bush that Dom is hiding in, putting the man out of his misery.  
  
And so starts their mission.  
  


\-----

  
Dom mentally checks off the list in his head as he disables another alarm. Crouching and crawling around has made his legs ache to stand, or even sit down to rest. Unfortunately, until he has disabled most of the alarms or have the mission be done as soon as possible without allowing the guards to bring in any outside reinforcements, there is no rest till then.  
  
He didn’t like that his role here is to act as a distraction, decoy, and turning off alarms. But at the same time, he’s thankful that Corvo takes the main role to take down the guards via choking, even though some of what Dom saw looks safe at best, or crippling at worst. There are also the occasional yet familiar sounds of a Hidden Blade being released to take out some of them when there’s no time for Corvo to take them out in a nonlethal method.  
  
Despite that this leaves the most of the guards relatively unharmed and not killed, it still leaves shivers down Dom’s spine being up close and personal to all this.  
  
Compared to what Corvo is doing, Ashley is like a saint. Keeping to his orders, he shot some guards down that are far out of both men’s reach, the tranquilizers mercifully doing a fast work to knock them out. A lot faster than it takes for Corvo to kill or choke them out.  
  
The security here are not stupid on why they are assigned here, however. Some of the conversations that Dom had overheard tells him that the guards around were aware of their existence and presence to some extent. He stops by the corner of a wall when he hears a couple of guards talking.  
  
“What is it this time, Thompson? I thought you wouldn’t worry about this. We’ve had a briefing about this before.”  
  
“Yeah, but I just don’t like how... silent it is.”  
  
“It’s just like every other night we’ve been patrolling around here. Silent. Peaceful. Means no trouble.”  
  
“Yeah, but it feels different tonight. I just know it.”  
  
“You’re way off your head. We’re getting paid to walk around the mansion.”  
  
“We’re getting paid loads to look after a mansion with a private collection of a rich son of a bitch. Shouldn’t he pay more for digital security instead?”  
  
“Money talks and works better for us than some hacker with too much time in their hands. So shut up and go back to patrolling. We’re earning big bucks for this.”  
  
Those two were quickly shot down by Ashley soon after their conversation was done.  
  
When the last of the alarms are shut down, Dom is already by the wall of the mansion. He sends a quick whistle as a signal, and quickly starts scaling up the wall. Now it is Corvo’s turn to be the decoy. While Dom will sneak in by the outside and try and locate where the private office is, Corvo will go straight in and start an attack to distract the guards inside the mansion to run towards the ruckus, and possibly towards their end.  
  
It’s exhausting to climb and jump along the window ledges, trying to find where the office and safe is with Eagle Vision, and finding the nearest open window to climb through. Spotting one that has been slightly pushed up and having seen that the room is empty, Dom decided to climb in and take a break.  
  
He comes into what he presumes it to be the master bedroom. The owner must’ve left it like that before he left. He does a quick sweep around the room with Eagle Vision, noting that there were quite a few items in dazzling gold that urges Dom to go check it out. The blond is more than aware of the small trinkets and drawers that caught his attention, and he resisted it. Last time he remembers, he isn’t a kleptomaniac.  
  
The first one that he picked up are newspapers, written in German. There is nothing interesting on it aside from the Chancellor Merkel probably pissing off another leader in Europe some time ago. It’s as useful as reading the terms and conditions from any software or websites, as far as Dom is concerned, putting the newspapers back down in place.  
  
The next one that Dom picks up is a small post it note left on a picture frame by the bedside drawer. It simply reminds the owner that a birthday for his daughter is coming soon, with the little girl’s date of birth written on it. Dom deduces that this might be an important clue, which he thinks is left carelessly around to be seen. Why else would someone has to write down their child’s birthday unless they are really that forgetful? After memorizing the numbers on the paper note, Dom decides that going through the door is going to be much easier for him to traverse the mansion and find the office quicker this way.  
  
He comes out right as a guard came round the corner and sees him.  
  
Fuck.  
  
“Intruder! Sound the alar—Ack!!” the guard’s words stopped, as Dom watches in shock at the blade of a knife stabbed deep into the right side of the guard’s neck.  
  
“Sorry, somehow that one managed to escape from me,” Corvo apologises, pulling the knife out. The guard makes a gurgling noise as blood spurts out of the side of his neck, collapsing down to the floor with eyes still wide open.  
  
“Could’ve given me some warning,” Dom winces, swallowing some bile back down. This was too close to home.  
  
“Considered yourself warned. Come on, we’re close to the office from here,” Corvo tilts his head towards the mahogany door from his right hand side. “We don’t have to worry about the cameras around anymore. I’ve found the security room here, and disabled the computers and destroyed its recordings.”  
  
Entering the office, it didn’t take long for Corvo to zero in on a framed painting by the wall. Pulling the painting off reveals a safe behind it. Corvo frowns at the safe.  
  
“Fuck, I hate it when they put them in safe boxes, even worse are those old fashioned combination locks,” Corvo curses. He walks towards the desk and starts searching around it. “Come on, the combination numbers must be kept around in this room or in the bedroom. We got to search it here first.”  
  
“I don’t think we have to go there,” Dom says, striding towards the wall safe with a confident swagger. Corvo watches him with a raised eyebrow as Dom takes over and starts turning the dials.  
  
A few turns on the dials later, he has the safe unlocked and a smug face for Corvo to see.  
  
“Huh, so you found the codes. I’m impressed,” Corvo admits. When they open the safe, it is immediately apparent that they found their treasure, floating in the middle of the metal box. Picking the ring out, he gives it a quick inspection.  
  
“It’s certainly a Precursor artifact rather than a human made one,” Corvo notes, pocketing the ring before turning to Dom. “We got what we needed, let’s get out of here.”  
  
“Hands up to the sky, you fuckers.”  
  
“Well shit,” Corvo makes a face as both Assassins turn back to see a guard pointing a gun at the taller Assassin. Corvo is mentally relieved that it was pointed at him rather than Dom, but he maintains a composure to avoid anything that will make the guard shoot them right now.  
  
“Hands up in the air,” the guard repeats. Corvo stares at him blankly, his arms kept down. Even when scared of the risks of not following the order, Dom follows what his mentor is doing.  
  
“You know, you do realise that we spared you, right? Don’t suppose you’ll do the same for us?” Corvo puts his hand on his pockets, trying to look casual as he folds his arms across his chest. It agitates the guard even more, keeping his attention mostly on Corvo.  
  
“You killed my friends. You think I would?” the guard sneers.  
  
“Well, I tried,” he sighs.  
  
Corvo mentally prepares himself, his wrists ready to flick and release the Hidden Blades to take the enemy down. At least if the guard is going to shoot him on the chest, his bulletproof clothes will protect him from fatal wounds, but it’s going to hurt like hell nonetheless from the blunt force. His head, on the other hand, might need some quick reflexes to avoid the bullet at point blank range.  
  
A loud bang came, and Corvo is momentarily confused as he felt nothing hitting him and hears a body thud down to the ground. He blinks at the sight of the body of the guard on the floor, and turns his head to see the shaking blond with a gun on his hands.  
  
“Oh shit, fuck, oh god,” Dom utters out, his hands shaking. Thinking quickly, Corvo approaches the blond, keeping a steady eye on him.  
  
“Finger away from the trigger,” he instructs in a calm voice. “Arms down, put the safety on. Deep breaths, Dominic.”  
  
Amazingly, Dom manages to do all of it. Corvo pulls the pistol away from the blond, seeing that it’ll be a lot safer to have the weapon to be in his hands, and calm the drummer down.  
  
“I-I k-killed him,” Dom’s voice can barely be heard from the deep breaths that he is taking. With a firm line on his lips, Corvo gives him a firm squeese on his shoulder.  
  
“Give them their last rites. It’s the least you can do to pay respect,” Corvo says softly. He kneels down and closes the dead guard’s eyes, muttering a prayer to the deceased. “You can then move on when you let them move on.”  
  
Dom bows his head down, giving a silent prayer to the man he shot dead to let him rest in peace, and for him to hopefully move on as Corvo says. He can only hope so.  
  
Corvo touches his earpiece and manages to contact their sniper. “Outlaw. Change of plans. When we get out, make sure that no guards are in direct sight of us to attack.”  
  
Once he gets a confirmation from Ashley, he turns to the blond. Corvo pats Dom’s shoulder. “Come on, we have to leave. Now.”  
  
Loud shots were heard as they leave the house and out onto the gardens. Dom does his best to ignore the bodies on the ground with bloodied heads and chests. He got pulled back by his shoulder and suddenly something small and round is shoved into his hand.  
  
“No matter what, get to the car,” Corvo said sternly, stopping and pulling his weapons out, ready for a battle. “Ashley will be there by the time we run out of here. I’ll stay and keep them off of you.”  
  
“But—“  
  
“Go!” Corvo shouts, pulling a couple of smoke grenades out. “You got the ring! I’ll catch up once I deal with them!”  
  
For a moment, time slowed down around the blond as he watches Corvo in his deadly state as an Assassin, teeth gritting and lips in a snarl, guns in his hands and ready to take the onslaught of bullets and guards coming towards them. There is an intense look on Corvo’s face as he as he guns down the guards, doing his best to keep them at a distance from the two of them.  
  
Snapping himself out of it, he keeps a tight grip of the ring and turns to run.  
  


\-----

  
Corvo hears Dom run as he shoots the incoming enemies down through the thick smoke. He counts his luck for having observed and seen that they don’t possess any infrared goggles or the likes of it. But he does, thanks to Eagle Vision. He witnesses as each man that he kills collapses down to the ground and the red glow fades away from them.  
  
Even without any alarms sounding, he can still hear footsteps of reinforcements coming towards him. He quickly takes to hiding in the bushes before the smoke dissipates. He reloads his gun just in time as the rest arrived. Loud orders are sent to scout the perimeter and snuff him out of hiding.  
  
Ashley may have shot down a lot of them, but there are still some left to be dealt with.  
  
He cursed to himself for not having packed any lethal grenades aside from smoke and stun grenades. A proximity bomb would leave a nice dent on the unsuspecting enemies and cut down the time spending it here. For now, he has to make do.  
  
“Fuck. They’re trying to snuff me out,” he whispers loudly to himself. He almost jumped when he realises that someone had heard him and is responding.  
  
 _“Don’t worry, Corvo, I’ll keep you covered until you can get out,”_ Ashley answers.  
  
Shots then rang out from the cliff, and sends the mercenaries into a disarray.  
  
“Gates and Javier are down!”  
  
“Sniper from above!”  
  
Silently, Corvo gives his thanks to his friend and fellow Assassin. Keeping his Eagle Vision on, he waits for the right opportunity to strike. When one of them walked towards his bush, he pulls out the pin from the grenade.  
  
Now is the time to make his move.  
  
He throws the smoke grenade around the same time that he stabs at the guard. The others took notice and quickly responded. Unfortunately for them, Corvo is a lot faster and takes his own gun out, shooting them and making sure that they’re dead and stay dead. Any shots fired at him were taken by his still warm meat shield.  
  
When said meat shield becomes too riddled with bullets, he tosses the body aside to pull a knife out. He shot those from afar, and stabbed and slashed those that he can get near enough. Soon he manages to whittle their numbers and confidence down.  
  
What is unfortunate is how one bullet managed to graze through his arm.  
  
The searing burn and pain on his left arm almost put his focus out in the heat of the fight, but Corvo simply grits his teeth and keep on shooting them down. Adrenaline is already helping him keep the pain tolerable while his calm mind kept him focused. He had already bought time for Dominic to escape, and now all he has left to do is to eliminate those who are blocking his path to escape.  
  
Corvo stares down at the last merc. Down to one last man, where there’s a 50-50 chance where Corvo will either win this or get killed.  
  
The merc has no bullets left, so he tries to put him down in the melee fight. Unluckily for the man, melee fights are one of Corvo’s forte.  
  
First thing that Corvo does is to get rid of any weapons the merc has on him. A few quick dodges while removing any weapons the man has on hand. A swinging punch from the merc is dodged from his left hand side, then it’s a punch to the man’s right ear, a swift turn to give a hard kick to the back of the merc’s knee to get him down, and quickly wrapping his left arm around the neck. Give another hard kick to the back of the knee to keep him down.  
  
With the merc’s head in a headlock with his injured left arm, Corvo uses his right arm to pummel his face down. Over and over. Until he hears the bones break and the man starts screaming in pain and begging him to stop. Watch as his broken nose sink into his face as blood and any bodily fluids burst out. Feel the strength that he is exerting on each downward punch while the man struggles to escape from his tight grip to no avail. Before finally, in what might as well be an act of mercy for the man, he activates his hidden blade and sinks the blade straight down the merc’s neck to bring it to an end.  
  
Only when Corvo is sure the man is dead did he released him and let his body fell to ground like a rag doll.  
  
As the smoke dissipates after the last smoke grenade, and he calms down from the rush, he takes a good look at his surroundings. Blood, spent cartridges, blast marks, and bodies littered the ground. The Assassin is the only one alive left standing.  
  
He gives a prayer to all those men that he fought and killed for their departure from this world.  
  
Corvo winces, holding a grip over his wounded arm. Now it feels more painful than before, when it was easily ignored and forgotten in the haze of a fight. Time for the journey to meet the others and then escape.  
  


\-----

  
Dom ran, and ran, and ran. He didn’t know how far or how fast did he ran until he reaches back to the car. Whatever is happening with Corvo and Ashley, all he is aware of is that they are now clearing the place up, hearing gunshots from the distance. Part of the mission had gone wrong as far as he can tell, even if they have got what they were here for.  
  
He hears footsteps coming towards him. In his haste and nerves still running high, Dom releases the blade from his wrist and turns around to confront who it is. He only pulls the blade back once he saw that it was Ashley, their sniper.  
  
Both men didn’t talk. When Ashley approaches Dom, he expected something insulting to come out of the younger man’s mouth. He’s not in the mood to deal with that.  
  
To Dom’s surprise, Ashley hugs him instead.  
  
“Heard you killed someone back there,” he says, after pulling away from the blond and then pats his shoulder. “Thought that you might need this.”  
  
“Thank you,” Dom replies, still surprised by such a gesture. “How did you know I did it?”  
  
“I know that look on your face. Familiar with it myself,” Ashley says. “What happened in that mansion?”  
  
Dom looks around warily before he speaks.  
  
“We found the artifact in the office safe. And t-then the guard was right there. I-I did it because the guy was going to shoot us. Going to shoot Corvo, then maybe me next,” Dom shudders for a bit, the picture of the man pointing the gun at them still fresh in his mind, taking deep breaths before he presses on. “I had to d-do something. I had t-to do it.”  
  
Ashley makes a noise, then gives Dom a shoulder hug. “Killing someone is not easy. Never is. Especially for those who aren’t used to it or can’t do it. But what you did back there? You did it to protect yourselves, to protect your teammate.”  
  
Dom has a firm line on his lips, but he nods in understanding. Guess Ashley is not such a dick after all.  
  
“How’s Corvo?” Dom asks.  
  
“He’s coming as we speak. I made sure to check that he manages to get out of the mansion before I left.”  
  
They both waited until their final member comes back, looking dirty and weary while gripping onto his bleeding left arm, but mostly fine and grinning at them. The Japanese Assassin looks at the two of them for a bit before he finally speaks.  
  
“Well, so much for stealth,” he shrugs, wincing after. “One of you will drive, while the other has to patch me up in the car.”  
  
“I’m taking the wheel,” Dom says, quickly coming to Corvo and assist him. Seeing the blood on Corvo’s left arm, he is sure as hell that he isn’t that good in first aid yet to patch that wound up properly.  
  
“Could’ve gone through this mission a lot better,” Ashley notes, putting his weapons into the trunk of the car.  
  
“Plans can go wrong no matter the circumstances. You just have to work your way around it,” Corvo says, his grin now turned into a soft smile. “The most important matter is that we got the artifact, and I think none of us will be recognised if they try and find us.”  
  
“Yeah, by killing every merc that was there,” Ashley deadpans, walking towards Corvo to check and see if the injury is worse than it looks.  
  
“And disabled the CCTVs. So we technically got away with it.”  
  
“Whatever you say there, Corvo,” Ashley opens the trunk to put his weapons away. “So the mission is a success even with Dom here.”  
  
“So what happened to the geezer that shouldn’t be here?” Dom asks, eyebrow cocking.  
  
Ashley gives him a look. “He’s done a lot better than I expected.”  
  
“So you two finally found some respect to each other, eh?” Corvo chuckles. “I would’ve thought it’ll take some more time to achieve that.”  
  
“Why would you say that?”  
  
“I think the two of you have two things in common,” Corvo elaborates.  
  
“And what’s that?” Ashley asks.  
  
“You both are flirtatious people by nature, and have a thing for pretty blue eyes no matter the gender.”  
  
Incredulous eyes are on Corvo, who is cackling madly at their facial expressions and walking away from them to rest in the car. They didn’t try to deny it, either.  
  
They look at each other in surprise. Both of them realised that they didn't retort on Corvo's statement.  
  
“So…”  
  
“Do they sing?”  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
“So does yours?”  
  
“It is kind of obvious.”  
  
Maybe they do have some things in common.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been almost a year since I last updated this story. In between writing various other stories and work, I kept away from it because I was so used to posting a large chunk of it to count as a chapter. In doing that, it also meant that updating it is so few and far between, much like what I did to Call It Magic. So here's a rather short one after the mission, and something for Dom to learn.

The whole event after the mission had convinced Corvo more than enough to press Dom towards learning how to use firearms once both men have returned to Britain to start it. Or rather, to be more accurate in such a statement, they could’ve been back in England to start the training had Poppy not found out about what happened while they were giving her a summary of their mission, and she was not a happy woman.  
   
In fact, she was so angry that she immediately booked a flight over to California just to give Corvo a tongue lashing that he finds is worse than getting shot.  
   
It was fortunate that Poppy knows of a contact who offers them the use of their shooting range in California to avoid the hassle of going back and forth to train Dom. And for the chance for Dom to witness, for the first time, Corvo in fear of a woman’s wrath while in a room that the shooting range owner oh-so-graciously let Poppy ‘borrow’ it.  
   
It’s a terrifying sight for Dom to see Poppy angry, but to witness Corvo being the subject of Poppy’s ire? It became a car crash that is hard to ignore, and Dom has a front row seat to it. Well, not really front row sets so much as standing by the door and eavesdropping on them.  
   
“You brought him into a mission where he has _no_ firsthand experience of working in firearms?! What were you thinking when you were planning up on that mission?!” she all but shouts at Corvo, who takes the verbal abuse with some amount of dignity, humility, and grace. It still doesn’t stop Dom from wincing in pity.  
   
“It was for teamwork and bonding. In hindsight, we should’ve trained him in using guns before that,” he hears Corvo lamely explains.  
   
“Oh, _we_? At the rate that we’ve been mentoring him for, for which you are mainly responsible for teaching him, he could’ve known how to shoot and what to expect from shooting a man dead by now!”  
   
“Hey, I’m busy as it is with how crazy of a schedule that I’ve had for the past year!” Corvo replies in defense. “I’m trying my best, but I can’t be everywhere at once when things start clogging up my time!”  
   
“And you got yourself shot! How will you explain that to anyone?!”  
   
There a silence that took over from inside that room, which Dom presumes that Corvo is thinking carefully on his response to Poppy. Dom then hears Corvo’s terse reply. “It wasn’t a mission that guarantees that no one comes out of it unhurt, Poppy. You yourself know that. I’m just thankful that it was me rather than Dominic or Ashley that ended up shot.”  
   
Only when their yelling match came to a grudging stop, and Poppy seems more in favour of releasing her anger at the firing range, did they leave the room to start to teach Dom how to use firearms. Before he can set foot into the firing range, Dom is shown several pistols that are available in the shooting range, their lessons starting with understanding the guns themselves on the table.  
   
It is a tall order for Dom to learn on using firearms even after that first time. He had some experience with it before as something of a recreational activity that Glen set up on their day off in America years ago, but never on using it for self-defense or to kill someone. It felt too soon in Dom’s opinion to learn it, remembering how the guardsman fell from that one shot.  
   
But after what happened and how he saved Corvo’s life, he knows that it’s a necessity to take this next step. There’s only so much one can train in melee combat to be proficient at it before it is glaringly obvious that he needs to learn ranged combat and weapons next, or else Dom is in a severe disadvantage in certain situations.  
   
Almost an hour was spent on Dom being taught the names of the pistols, the different types and functions of various guns, the difference between a semi-automatic and a revolver, the number of rounds each pistol has in its magazines, how to dismantle and put a gun back together step by step, and the various advantages and disadvantages of what each pistol has, from its firing range to its recoil knockback. Most importantly that Corvo has him drilled into his head is gun safety, for no gun must face anyone when not in use and never assumed that a gun is not loaded even when you know it is not. It’s what hammers it down for him that it isn’t just an etiquette, but a serious understanding that a gun is indeed a deadly weapon and not a toy.  
   
Then, Corvo tells him what type of firearms that law enforcements from various parts of the world uses, particularly in around Britain.  
   
“These are the ones that are mostly used by the London Metropolitan Police,” Corvo pushes two pistols towards Dom, and from what he remembered of the brand and type they are, the two pistols are the Glock 17 and 26, both are semi-automatic and use magazines. “In Northern Ireland, they use a wider variety. Even after gaining peace and reducing the requirements, they still hold quite a variety compared to the other side.  
   
“This is the one that I used as my sidearm on that last mission,” Corvo pulls a new gun out on the table from his belt holster, painted in black and having a silencer attached to its muzzle. “A Beretta M9. Has a 15 round to its magazines.  
   
“However, depending on the situation and who we ought to know, some weapons can be more common than others,” Corvo says. “A little advice: always think that you won’t have enough bullets. If you can get close to some guys that you shot down, you can use their guns and ammunition instead and put yours away until needed. To use up all of your ammo while in a battleground is a very bad move to make. A fatal one as well when barely anything is not on your side.”  
   
“Duly noted.” _If I can ever get close to one_ , he almost wanted to add.  
   
“The other advice is that until you have a proper body posture and the strength to handle the recoil well, you are to stay away from much more powerful guns like the Desert Eagle,” Corvo says seriously, putting a large handgun onto the table. He points down at it. “This gun is no plaything. It’s like having a mini cannon in your hand. You’ll get punched in the face with your teeth knocked off by your own hand or blown off your feet just from the power of its recoil alone without proper handling.”  
   
“It’s that bad?” Dom can’t help but asked.  
   
“The various videos that you can search up on YouTube can pretty much prove my words.”  
   
When it’s time to learn how to use a gun in the firing range, Corvo hands him a Glock 17 and teaches him the right posture and position before he can aim and fire.  
   
Right foot in front of the other, knees bent.  
   
Two hands instead of one for steadiness and accuracy. One arm hold out straight, the other loose.  
   
Turn the safety off. Finger away from the trigger until he is ready.  
   
Inhale to calm down and focus, exhale to shoot.  
   
As he starts, it still takes Dom by surprise and shock at the loud noise and the knockback that he felt, even with the mufflers and safety glasses on. After he used up the 17-round magazine of the Glock, he can’t help but feel disappointed that only a few of the bullets hit the paper, but not the exact target. Beginners don’t always start out well, but they eventually will get a hang of it and get better.  
   
It took two more magazines before Dom got a few shots on the target, some hitting way off and others managing to hit the ‘human’ target. As Dom reloads the gun, his mind is buzzing, yet he finds it almost calming while practicing how to shoot. In such an environment where he is training rather than having his or anyone else’s life on the line, he can see the routine to it, the aim and timing feels almost like playing music.  
   
He turns to see Corvo and Poppy busy firing away, perhaps finding that same relaxing sensation that Dom found, only much more common from the experienced ones.  
   
From Corvo, it is obvious to see that the younger man has good aim in his steady firing, eyes on the targets as he aims and shoots at various parts. The head and chest areas close to the heart are immediate kills; shoulders, elbows and knees to incapacitate the target. He is quick in reloading his current gun with a new magazine or changing to a different weapon. And he is even having a bit of fun in showing off by holding a pair of pistols in both hands and shooting at the targets with barely any detriment to his accuracy and posture.  
   
But it wasn’t Corvo that disturbed Dom with his sharpshooting skills, rather it was _Poppy_ that truly did. She has good aim like Corvo, and shows it by always shooting at the paper targets between the legs. First. Several times.  
   
Dom gawks at the sight of how many holes there are on Poppy’s target, and how one of the holes that is forming is getting bigger, feeling his ‘little Dom’ shrinking outright in fear. Whatever kind of vendetta Poppy has towards men or the groin area in general, he’d rather not know.  
   
What makes it worse is that Corvo doesn’t stop her, he even outright encourages it by soon joining along her side and doing the same thing to his target. The two of them then ended up in a competition to see who create the biggest hole or have the most shots placed on the groin area. Dom isn’t really sure, he’s just gawking and wincing at every shot landing on the groin area of the targets.  
   
During a break, they were having a _conversation_ about the possibilities of dying of blood loss via gunshot wounds on the groin area. The earmuffs did nothing to Dom to never not hear that or ever have such gruesome thoughts erased from his head.  
   
He wonders if other Assassins have heard of them having such a conversation within earshot and whether or not if they feel that wince of phantom pain between their legs.  
   
It’s times like these that reminds Dom that there are certain kinds of craziness in his life. There are those like Matt in which he learned to get used to, and then there are those that keeps him on his toes.  
   
And joining the Assassins seems to fit somewhere in between the lines.


End file.
